At least 78 people died and at least 322 were injured when a crowd gathered outside a humanitarian aid distribution center in Sana’a was trampled on Wednesday, Houthi de facto government officials said Thursday morning.

“Seventy-eight people were killed and more than 322 were injured” in a stampede during the distribution of humanitarian aid in the Bab el-Yemen region, a source close to the Houthi security forces in Sana’a said. The count was confirmed by a representative of the rebel health authorities.

Among the dead were “women and children” and about 50 injured are in serious condition, the first source added to AFP on condition of anonymity because she was not authorized to speak to the media.

The victims of the tragedy, one of the worst in 10 years, were taken to hospitals in the capital, and the organizers of the distribution of aid were arrested, according to a statement from the Interior Ministry, published by the rebel-controlled news agency SABA.

The report does not indicate the number of victims, but speaks of “dozens of people who died in a stampede during the chaotic distribution of money by some merchants.”

Many Yemenis, impoverished after years of war, have gathered at the aid distribution center ahead of Eid al-Fitr, one of the most important holidays for Muslims.

Humanitarian crisis

Yemen, the poorest country on the Arabian Peninsula, has been torn apart since 2014 by the Houthis, Shiite rebels allied to Iran, and the forces of an internationally recognized government backed by a military alliance led by Saudi Arabia.

The war caused one of the most severe humanitarian crises on the planet: hundreds of thousands of dead, millions of internally displaced people, epidemics, lack of clean drinking water, famine. Three-quarters of the population is dependent on international humanitarian aid, which, however, continues to dwindle.

In rebel-controlled areas, including the capital Sana’a, many civil servants have not been paid for months.

A six-month UN-brokered ceasefire last year was not renewed when it expired last October, but hostilities on a large scale have not resumed and have remained sporadic, giving respite to the population.

Last week, a Saudi delegation, accompanied by Omani mediators, traveled to Sana’a for talks aimed at establishing a new ceasefire and laying the foundations for a more durable ceasefire.

In this context, the internationally recognized government and the Ansar Allah rebels, or the Houthis – after the family that leads the faction – have begun an exchange of about 900 prisoners of war in recent days.

There has never been such a “serious opportunity” to start a peace process in the country in the past eight years, UN Special Representative Hans Grudberg said with satisfaction on Monday. But “we have no illusions. It will take a lot of work to build trust and find compromises,” he warned.

Source: RES-IPE