A stampede at a school in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, has left at least 78 people dead and several injured. The incident occurred during the distribution of charitable donations by merchants to mark the final days of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Witnesses and Houthi media reported that hundreds of people had crowded into the school to receive donations worth 5,000 Yemeni riyals, or around $9 per person. Scores of discarded shoes, clothing, and a crutch were seen on the steps of the building in videos shared on social media. The director of health in Sanaa reported that 13 people were in critical condition.
The two merchants responsible for organising the event have been detained, and an investigation is underway. The Houthi-controlled Ministry of Interior stated that the stampede occurred due to the high number of people present and was not caused by any security breach.
Yemen has been embroiled in an eight-year civil war, which has led to tens of thousands of deaths, economic collapse, and hunger for millions of its citizens. The conflict has been viewed as a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran. The Saudi-led coalition intervened in Yemen in 2015 after the Houthis ousted the government from the capital city of Sanaa in 2014. Mohamed Ali al-Houthi, head of the Houthi supreme revolutionary committee, blamed the “countries of aggression” for the bitter reality faced by the Yemeni people after eight years of fighting.
However, there are hopes for a resolution to the conflict as Yemen’s Houthi movement’s top negotiator announced that recent peace talks with Saudi Arabia have made progress. He stated that further discussions would be held to address remaining differences. Riyadh and Tehran had agreed in March to restore diplomatic ties that were severed in 2016, and prisoner exchanges between the two sides have taken place this month.
The tragic stampede in Sanaa highlights the dire situation faced by many Yemenis as a result of the ongoing conflict. The Yemeni people have suffered from widespread violence, displacement, and poverty, with millions in need of humanitarian aid. The international community has called for an end to the conflict and an urgent resolution to the humanitarian crisis. The recent progress in peace talks between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis offers a glimmer of hope for a brighter future for Yemen.
The tragic incident has highlighted the dire humanitarian situation in Yemen, which has been embroiled in an eight-year civil war that has led to tens of thousands of deaths, economic collapse, and hunger for millions of its citizens.
The conflict is widely viewed as a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran. The Saudi-led coalition intervened in Yemen in 2015 after the Houthis ousted the government from the capital city of Sanaa in 2014.
Mohamed Ali al-Houthi, head of the Houthi supreme revolutionary committee, blamed the “countries of aggression” for the bitter reality faced by the Yemeni people after eight years of fighting. “We hold the countries of aggression responsible for what happened and for the bitter reality that the Yemeni people live in because of the aggression and blockade,” he said on Twitter.
Despite the ongoing conflict, there are hopes for a resolution. Yemen’s Houthi movement’s top negotiator announced that recent peace talks with Saudi Arabia have made progress, with further discussions planned to address remaining differences.
The announcement follows a prisoner exchange between Saudi Arabia and Yemen, with 60 Yemeni prisoners and 4 Saudi soldiers released in exchange for 5 Saudi prisoners.
Riyadh and Tehran had agreed in March to restore diplomatic ties that were severed in 2016, and the prisoner exchange has raised hopes of a potential breakthrough in the conflict.
However, the situation in Yemen remains dire, with millions of people on the brink of famine and in urgent need of humanitarian assistance.
The United Nations has called the situation in Yemen the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, with 80% of the population in need of assistance.
The stampede in Sanaa serves as a tragic reminder of the urgent need for a peaceful resolution to the conflict in Yemen and for increased humanitarian aid to the Yemeni people.