A crowd of people apparently frightened by gunfire and an electrical explosion have stampeded at an event to distribute financial aid in Yemen's capital, killing at least 78, according to eyewitnesses and a Houthi rebel official.
The Houthi health ministry said 77 people were injured, including 13 who remain in a critical condition, in the charge that occurred during the distribution of the cash collected in the final days of the Muslim fasting holy month before the Eid al-Fitr festivities.
Hundreds of people had crowded into a school to receive the donations distributed by merchants, which amounted to 5,000 Yemeni riyals ($13), two eyewitnesses involved in the rescue effort said.
Abdel-Rahman Ahmed and Yahia Mohsen, who witnessed the scene, said armed Houthis had fired into the air in an attempt at crowd control, apparently striking an electrical wire and causing it to explode.
That sparked a panic, and people, including many women and children, began stampeding, they said.
A video posted on social media showed dozens of bodies on the ground, some motionless and others screaming as people tried to help.
The rebels quickly sealed off the school where the event was held and barred people, including journalists, from approaching.
The Interior Ministry said it had detained two organisers and an investigation was underway.
"We are experiencing a great tragedy, a large number of our citizens have died during this stampede," said Abdulaziz Bin Habtour, the prime minister of the Houthi movement, the de facto authority in north Yemen.
In remarks published by the group's media centre, he said measures would be taken to "find a serious solution so it does not happen again".
The president of Yemen's Supreme Judicial Council said the necessary legal measures would be taken.
This crush took place in the Old City in the centre of Sana'a.
The ministry's spokesman, Brigadier Abdel-Khaleq al-Aghri, blamed the crush on the "random distribution" of funds without coordination with local authorities.
Two-thirds of Yemen's population in need
Yemen's capital has been under the control of the Iranian-backed Houthis since they descended from their northern stronghold in 2014 and removed the internationally recognised government.
That prompted a Saudi-led coalition to intervene in 2015 to try to restore the government.
The conflict has turned in recent years into a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran, killing more than 150,000 people including fighters and civilians and creating one of the world's worst humanitarian disasters.
More than 21 million people in Yemen, or two-thirds of the country's population, need help and protection, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Among those in need, more than 17 million are considered particularly vulnerable.
In February the United Nations said it had raised only $US1.2 billion out of a target of $US4.3 billion at a conference aimed at generating funds to ease the humanitarian crisis.
ABC/wires
