SANAA-At least 85 people were killed and hundreds injured in a crush at a Ramazan cash handout in Yemen early on Thursday.
Three people were detained over the stampede in Sanaa, Yemen’s capital, after large crowds gathered at a school to receive gifts of 5,000 rial (about $8) for the end of Ramadan, the Muslim holy month. Harrowing footage screened by 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. Other shots showed dead bodies on the ground as the panic continued. Afterwards, piles of abandoned sandals, clothing and a crutch littered the scene, while an investigator in white protective gear collected evidence. “It was a huge crowd. They fell on me, and I got hurt,” an injured child told Al Masirah from his hospital bed.
A Huthi security official speaking on condition of anonymity told AFP 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.
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The tragedy comes 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.
Eyewitnesses said gunfire sparked a stampede after crowds gathered at the school, in Sanaa’s historic Bab Al-Yemen district, to receive the handouts from a businessman. AFP could not verify the reports of gunfire.
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,” said one witness. “People flocked in a huge way, the gate opened, and with the large numbers, the stampede happened.” After the stampede, families converged on hospitals but many were not allowed to enter as senior officials were also visiting the dead and wounded.
An AFP correspondent in Sanaa saw large crowds outside one hospital entrance. At the school, heavily deployed security forces were seen blocking relatives from entering the facility to locate family members.
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