A school in Sanaa became the scene of the tragedy when people rushed there in the hopes of receiving assistance at a charity event.
According to reports, at least 78 people were killed and at least 73 more injured late Wednesday when a throng at an event to hand out money during Ramadan in Yemen’s capital jumped in fear after hearing gunfire and an electrical explosion.
As the final days of Ramadan approached, hundreds of people went into a school in the Bab al-Yemen neighbourhood of Sanaa in the hopes of receiving a charitable donation of around $10 that was being handed out by merchants.
Videos shared online showed dozens of bodies, some of which remained motionless and others of which were moving while others were yelling for help. Houthi officials also released footage showing the aftermath of the attack, which included bloodstains, shoes, and clothing lying around. Investigators were spotted examining the scene. Police officers struggled to keep the gathering under control by pushing people back.
Two witnesses, Abdel-Rahman Ahmed and Yahia Mohsen, said that the explosion was caused when armed Houthis fired into the air in an attempt at controlling the crowd. As a result, many individuals, including women and children, reportedly began fleeing the area in panic.
Yemen Civil War
The Yemeni civil war is an ongoing multilateral conflict that began in late 2014 between the Rashad al-Alimi-led Yemeni government and the Houthi armed movement, as well as their allies and supporters. Both claim to represent Yemen’s official government.
In September 2014, Houthi troops took over the capital city, Sanaa. Soon after, the Houthis quickly took over the government. On March 21, 2015, the Houthi-led Supreme Revolutionary Committee called for a general mobilisation to overthrow then-president Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi and expand their control by invading the southern provinces.
The Houthi offensive, allied with Saleh’s military forces, began battling the following day in the Lahij Governorate. By March 25, the Houthis had taken over Lahij, and they had reached the edges of Aden, where Hadi’s government is based. Hadi departed the country immediately. In order to restore the previous Yemeni government, a coalition under the leadership of Saudi Arabia began military operations with air strikes.
Western sources have viewed the conflict as an extension of the Iran–Saudi Arabia proxy war and as a means to combat Iranian influence in the region, despite the fact that Iran did not directly intervene in support of the Houthis.
