85 Killed Hundreds Injured In Stampede During Yemen Charity Event

world : More than 80 people were killed and hundreds injured in a crush at a charity distribution event in war-torn Yemen on Thursday, Huthi officials said, one of the deadliest stampedes in a decade The latest tragedy to strike the Arabian Peninsula’s poorest country came days ahead of the Muslim holiday Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

At least 85 were killed and more than 322 were injured” after the stampede in the Bab al-Yemen district of the capital, a Huthi security official said. Women and children were among the dead,” he told AFP on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media. A video broadcast by the Huthi rebel’s Al Masirah showed a cluster of bodies packed together, with people climbing on top of each other to try to make their way through.

Many had their mouths covered by other people’s hands, the rest of their bodies engulfed by the dense crowd, the footage showed. Armed fighters in military garb and distribution workers screamed at the crowd to turn back as they pulled people out of the stampede.The dead and injured have been moved to nearby hospitals and those responsible for the distribution were taken into custody, the Huthi’s interior ministry said in a statement carried by the rebel’s Saba news agency.