Dozens of people were killed in a crowd surge in Yemen’s capital on Wednesday, April 19 as hungry residents in the war-torn nation flocked to receive charity handouts from local merchants during the holy month of Ramadan, government officials have confirmed.
The incident is Yemen’s deadliest in years unrelated to fighting in war.
The incident happened late Wednesday in the Yemeni capital, San’a, where authorities said a merchant was distributing financial aid at a school for the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, which is coming to an end this week.
Each person was set to receive 5,000 Yemeni rials, equivalent to about $9.
Video of the tragedy in Sanaa town showed a chaotic scene with dozens of people packed tightly together, unable to move and shouting for help as the stampede occurred when they rushed to collect the money.
Those trapped in the surge formed a tangled wall of bodies with some desperately stretching out their arms for help.
A couple of men who were freed could then be seen attempting to pull others out of the deadly crush. Images from the aftermath showed shoes and slippers heaped into piles as well as scarfs strewn on the floor.
‘What happened tonight is a tragic and painful accident, as dozens of people were killed due to a large stampede of a number of citizens caused by a random distribution of sums of money by some merchants and without coordination with the Ministry of Interior,’ the spokesman of the Houthi-run Ministry of Interior, Abdul-Khaleq al-Ajri, said in the statement.
At least 78 people were killed in the crush and dozens injured, Mutahar al-Marouni, the director of the Houthi-run Health office in Sanaa, told the Houthi-run Al-Masirah news agency.
The incident came just a few days ahead of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
During this time of the month, people start giving away Zakat al-Fitr, or the Zakat of Breaking the Fast of Ramadan, to people who are in need.
Police and rescue teams rushed to the scene, according to the Interior Ministry statement.
‘The dead and injured people were transferred to hospitals, and two merchants in charge of the matter were arrested,’ the statement added.
The Houthi-run General Authority for Zakat announced in a statement it would give one million Yemeni Riyal (about $4,000) to each family of the crowd surge victims.
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