At least 85 people were killed and hundreds were injured during a stampede incident during the distribution of financial aid in Sana'a, in a new tragedy that came after optimism that the conflict in Yemen would soon be on the way to a solution.

The incident occurred just before Eid al-Fitr, during a period during which sums of money are often distributed to the poor in a country where about two-thirds of the 30 million population depend on aid to survive.

And video recordings showed that hundreds of people gathered in a narrow and crowded place to obtain financial assistance, which was estimated at about eight dollars per person, in a school in the old area of Sana'a, before the stampede began.

A recording published by the Houthi-affiliated Al-Masirah TV showed dozens of people jostling in a confined space, while some of them shouted, "Go back, go back."

A Houthi security official told AFP, "85 people were killed and more than 322 were wounded, including 50 in critical condition" in the stampede, while the Houthi authorities stated that 78 died and 77 were injured.

A medical official confirmed the toll reported by the security official to France Press, saying that the victims were distributed among three hospitals.

The security official said, on condition of anonymity, that "among the dead were women and children."

This is one of the largest mass incidents in Yemen, the poorest country in the Arabian Peninsula, which has been mired in a war since 2014 between the Iran-backed Houthi rebels who control Sanaa, and pro-government forces backed by a Saudi-led military coalition.

The war has killed hundreds of thousands directly or as a result of its repercussions, while the threat of famine threatens millions of the population, and thousands need urgent medical treatment that is not available in the country whose infrastructure has been destroyed.

The incident occurred at a time when there was optimism about the possibility of putting the conflict on the path to a solution, after talks that Saudi Arabia held with the Houthis in Sana'a recently and a prisoner exchange between the government and the rebels that included about 900 prisoners.

An AFP correspondent said that the incident took place inside Maeen's school. Pictures published by Houthi-affiliated media showed dozens of shoes and pieces of clothing piled on top of each other at the entrances to the school.

According to eyewitness accounts, gunfire led to the stampede, but Agence France-Presse was unable to confirm this information.
The Houthis did not reveal the cause of the stampede. However, the Houthi news agency "Saba" quoted the spokesman for the "Ministry" of the Interior in the internationally unrecognized government, Brigadier General Abd al-Khaliq al-Ajri, as saying that the incident occurred "due to a stampede of citizens during the random distribution of sums of money by some merchants."

He added, "The tragic and painful accident (...) claimed dozens of lives," noting that "the dead and injured were transferred to hospitals, and two of the merchants in charge of the matter were arrested."

For his part, a member of the "Supreme Political Council" Muhammad Ali al-Houthi wrote on Twitter that the stampede occurred due to overcrowding and the narrowness of the street in which crowds gathered.

In front of Al-Thawra Hospital, a large number of the victims' families gathered, trying to enter, but the security men were preventing them from doing so, at a time when officials visited the hospital, according to an AFP correspondent.

Hospital beds were filled with the wounded, including children, according to video footage broadcast by Houthi media.

The Houthi security forces imposed a security cordon around Maeen School at Bab al-Yaman in Old Sana'a, where the incident took place, and prevented entry to the place and filming it.

In this context, the head of the Houthi Supreme Political Council, Mahdi Al-Mashat, announced "the formation of a committee of the Interior, Security, Intelligence, Judiciary and Prosecution Office to investigate the stampede," Saba reported.

A security official in Sana'a said that the authorities "arrested three merchants in connection with the incident."

This is considered one of the largest stampede incidents in the world in the last ten years, according to a tally of this type of accident compiled by AFP.

Many government employees in Houthi-controlled areas suffer as a result of not receiving salaries for years.

The United Nations says more than 21.7 million people (two-thirds of the population) need humanitarian aid in Yemen this year.
In early October, a truce mediated by the United Nations ended in April 2022, without the parties to the conflict reaching an agreement to extend it. But the situation remained relatively calm on the ground.

On Monday, the United Nations envoy to Yemen, Hans Grundberg, considered that the country mired in war had not witnessed such a "serious opportunity" for peace in eight years, stressing at the same time that there was still much work to be done in this regard.

And on Monday, three planes transported about 100 prisoners who were being held by the coalition led by Riyadh to Yemen, as part of a wide prisoner exchange that lasted for three days and included about 900 prisoners from both sides of the Yemeni conflict, which revives hopes for a near truce.

The recent exchange process coincided with diplomatic efforts resulting from the Saudi-Iranian rapprochement, aimed at consolidating a long-term ceasefire and putting the bloody war in the impoverished country on the path to a solution.

Commenting on the stampede incident, the Yemeni government's information minister, Muammar al-Iryani, said on Twitter, "We hold the criminal killers (...) who brought the situation to this tragic point, and turned the lives of millions of Yemenis into hell, fully responsible for this crime," referring to Houthis.