At least 85 people were killed and hundreds injured in a crush at a Ramadan cash handout in Yemen yesterday in one of its worst tragedies in the nation just as optimism was growing over its civil war.
Three people were detained over the stampede in Sana’a, Yemen’s rebel-held capital, after large crowds gathered at a school to receive gifts of 5,000 rial (US$20) for the end of Ramadan, the Muslim holy month.
Footage screened by the Iran-backed Houthi rebels’ Al-Masirah TV showed a tightly packed crowd screaming and shoving, unable to move, while others attempted to haul stricken people out of the crush.
Photo: Reuters
Other shots showed dead bodies on the ground as the panic continued.
Afterward, piles of abandoned sandals, clothing and a crutch littered the scene, while an investigator in white protective gear collected material.
“It was a huge crowd. They fell on me, and I got hurt,” an injured child told Al-Masirah from his hospital bed.
A Houthi security official speaking on condition of anonymity told reporters that at least 85 people were killed and “more than 322” injured, 50 of them seriously.
“Women and children were among the dead,” the official said.
A health official confirmed the toll.
The tragedy came just ahead of Eid al-Fitr, a major Muslim festival, and punctures a buoyant mood over the war in the Arabian Peninsula’s poorest country, following peace talks and an exchange of nearly 1,000 prisoners last week.
The Houthis, who seized Sana’a in 2014, are fighting a military coalition led by Saudi Arabia that intervened in March 2015 in an attempt to reinstall the ousted government.
Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed by the war’s direct or indirect causes, and millions pushed to the brink of famine.
However, momentum is growing for a truce and peace process, with Saudi Arabia and the Houthis holding talks last week.
Eyewitnesses said that gunfire sparked a stampede after crowds gathered at the school in Bab al-Yemen District to receive handouts from a businessman.
Reporters could not verify the reports of gunfire.
The head of the Houthis’ Supreme Revolutionary Committee, Mohamed Ali al-Houthi, blamed “overcrowding,” saying that people were packed in a narrow street leading to the school’s back entrance.
Once the gates opened, the crowd streamed into a tight staircase leading to the courtyard where the distribution was taking place.
“Citizens were informed a week ago that sums of money would be disbursed without ID verification,” one witness said. “People flocked in a huge way, the gate opened, and with the large numbers, the stampede happened.”
The Houthis’ political chief Mahdi al-Mashat said that a committee had been formed to investigate, while a Houthi security official said that three people had been detained on suspicion of involvement.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
DISCONTENT: The CCP finds positive content about the lives of the Chinese living in Taiwan threatening, as such video could upset people in China, an expert said Chinese spouses of Taiwanese who make videos about their lives in Taiwan have been facing online threats from people in China, a source said yesterday. Some young Chinese spouses of Taiwanese make videos about their lives in Taiwan, often speaking favorably about their living conditions in the nation compared with those in China, the source said. However, the videos have caught the attention of Chinese officials, causing the spouses to come under attack by Beijing’s cyberarmy, they said. “People have been messing with the YouTube channels of these Chinese spouses and have been harassing their family members back in China,”
UPDATED FORECAST: The warning covered areas of Pingtung County and Hengchun Peninsula, while a sea warning covering the southern Taiwan Strait was amended The Central Weather Administration (CWA) at 5:30pm yesterday issued a land warning for Typhoon Usagi as the storm approached Taiwan from the south after passing over the Philippines. As of 5pm, Usagi was 420km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost tip, with an average radius of 150km, the CWA said. The land warning covered areas of Pingtung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春), and came with an amended sea warning, updating a warning issued yesterday morning to cover the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. No local governments had announced any class or office closures as of press time last night. The typhoon
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said there are four weather systems in the western Pacific, with one likely to strengthen into a tropical storm and pose a threat to Taiwan. The nascent tropical storm would be named Usagi and would be the fourth storm in the western Pacific at the moment, along with Typhoon Yinxing and tropical storms Toraji and Manyi, the CWA said. It would be the first time that four tropical cyclones exist simultaneously in November, it added. Records from the meteorology agency showed that three tropical cyclones existed concurrently in January in 1968, 1991 and 1992.
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