At least 85 people were killed and 332 injured in Yemen's capital, Sanaa, when a stampede broke out during a charity distribution, Houthi health officials told AFP on Wednesday night.
The crush took place in the Old City in the center of Sanaa when hundreds of poor people gathered at an event organized by merchants, the Houthi-run Interior Ministry said, according to The Associated Press.
The ministry’s spokesman, Brig. Abdel-Khaleq al-Aghri, blamed the disaster on the “random distribution” of funds without coordination with local authorities.
The rebels quickly sealed off the school where the event was organized and barred people, including journalists, from approaching, according to AP.
Eyewitnesses said armed Houthis shot in the air in an attempt to control the crowd, apparently striking an electrical wire and causing it to explode. That sparked panic and people began stampeding, they said.
The Houthi-run Interior Ministry said it had detained two organizers and an investigation was underway.
Sanaa has been controlled by the Iranian-backed Houthis since they descended from their northern stronghold in 2014 and removed the internationally recognized government.
It has long been believed that Iran is planning to use the Houthis to take over Yemen and seize the key strategic port of Aden, which controls the entrance to the Red Sea and ultimately to the Israeli resort city of Eilat.
Iran denies it is backing the Houthis and has also denied Saudi Arabian accusations that Tehran provided the Houthi rebels in Yemen with ballistic capabilities.
A Saudi-led coalition intervened in 2015 to try to restore the internationally recognized government. The conflict has turned in recent years into a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
The recent normalization agreement between Saudi Arabia and Iran has raised hopes that a peace agreement could be achieved in Yemen.