Deadly stampede in Yemen: at least 85 people killed; hundreds injured

Sanaa: After a deadly stampede broke out in a charity distribution in Yemen, more than 80 people died while hundreds of others got injured on Thursday, reports Agence France-Presse.

The unfortunate and horrendous event happened only days ahead of Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan, inside a school where aid was being distributed.

A security official told AFP that there were at least 85 people dead and more than 322 injured. The dead include women and children.

After the incident, more people flowed to the location in search of their kith and kin, but heavy security was deployed, and the crowd was prohibited from entering the site.

The Houthi's interior ministry released a statement that the dead and the injured were shifted to nearby hospitals, and those behind the distribution were taken into custody. Authorities have initiated an investigation into the incident.

The interior ministry did not provide an exact number of casualties but said that dozens got killed in the stampede. There was video footage of bodies lying on the ground inside a large complex and people restless around them. But AFP says that it could not verify the footage.

It was in 2014 a civil war broke out in Yemen. After the Iran-backed Houthis captured the capital, a Saudi-led coalition intervened the next year and formed an internationally recognized government.

There was no fighting after a six-month truce brokered by the UN last year. The truce had expired in October, but there was considerable peace in the territory.

Fighting has eased dramatically since a six-month, UN-brokered truce last year, even after it expired in October.

But it is already torn by war as two-thirds of the population lives below the poverty line. Government employees in Huthi-controlled areas who haven't been paid civil servant salaries in years.

UN has informed that 21.7 million people, that is, two-thirds of the country, require humanitarian assistance this year.