85 Killed in Stampede at Yemen Charity Event During Eid Cash Distribution

A stampede at an aid center in Yemen’s capital late on Wednesday killed at least 85 people and injured at least 300, according to the Houthi-run health authority.

Hundreds of poor Yemenis had gathered for a charity event in the Bab Al-Yemen area of Sanaa, Yemen’s capital city. The event was a distribution of cash to the needy coordinated by local businessmen ahead of Eid al-Fitr, the holiday marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan. Witnesses reported that Houthi officials, attempting to control the crowd, fired into the air. A bullet apparently struck an electrical wire and caused an explosion, which led to the panicked stampede.

Videos posted to social media show people screaming among dozens of bodies, some of them motionless. Houthi authorities later posted videos of the scene after the investigation had begun, with bloodstains, shoes, and clothes littering the ground.

Houthi-run media reported that the Houthi Interior Ministry blamed the disaster, which is Yemen’s deadliest in years unrelated to the civil war, on the uncoordinated distribution of money. Interior Ministry spokesperson Abdul Khaliq Al-Ajri said on television that two businessmen involved in organizing the event had been arrested.

The Houthis also announced that they would compensate families who lost loved ones in the stampede with about $2,000 each. The injured would receive around $400 each.