IAccording to the Houthi rebels, at least 78 people have died in Yemen. At least 110 other people were injured in a riot in the capital Sanaa, an employee of the rebel health organization said on Thursday morning.
In videos intended to show the scenes after the incident, numerous bodies were lined up on the ground. The exact background as well as the exact number of fatalities initially remained unclear. A spokesman for the Interior Ministry said some traders distributed cash donations on Wednesday evening without prior coordination, according to the Saba news agency run by the Houthis. A mass panic then ensued.
The head of the High Political Council, Mahdi al-Maschat, called for an investigation into the incident. A committee designated for this purpose arrived at the scene of the incident that evening, according to a Saba report. Two suspected dealers were arrested.
The civil war in Yemen, which has been going on since 2014, is classified by the UN as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. The conflict pits the troops of Sunni President Abd Rabbo Mansur Hadi, who has fled into exile, against the Shiite Houthi rebels. The government troops are supported by a military alliance led by Saudi Arabia, and the Houthi rebels have Iran’s backing. Recently there had been rapprochements between the warring parties.
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