At least 78 killed in stampede at Yemen charity event

At least 78 people are dead and dozens more are injured after a stampede erupted in Yemen’s capital on Wednesday at a charity event during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Hundreds of impoverished people gathered in and near a school in the capital city of Sanaa on Wednesday to receive financial aid. The stampede is believed to have started when armed Houthis fired into the air in an attempt to control the crowd but instead hit an electrical wire and caused an explosion, creating panic and leading dozens of people to be crushed, the Associated Press reported, based on witnesses’ accounts.

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Unsettling videos posted on social media showed bodies lying motionless in the street as sirens rang out. Photos captured in the aftermath of the tragedy display shoes and other clothing strewn across sidewalks and steps.

The disaster, which included the deaths and injuries of women and children, is the deadliest in years not related to the country’s long-running civil war, per the Associated Press. In the aftermath of the stampede, the Houthis said they would pay about $2,000 in compensation to each family who lost a relative, while the injured would get about $400.

The tragedy underscores the extremely dire situation in Yemen right now. According to the United Nations, the country faces the largest humanitarian crisis in the world. More than 24 million people, or about 80% of the country’s population, are in need of aid and protection.

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On top of environmental concerns such as drought and intense flooding, the country is in the midst of a deadly civil war. The conflict, which has essentially become a proxy battle between Saudi Arabia and Iran, has only caused further devastation to the country’s citizens.

The fighting began in Yemen in 2014 when the Iranian-backed Houthis took over Sanaa and forced the government to flee into exile in Saudi Arabia. More than 150,000 people have been killed in the war.