Yemen stampede leaves 79 dead, 110 injured (Photos)

At least 79 people have been killed and more than 100 injured in a stampede that broke out in Yemen’s capital during a charity distribution, Houthi health officials told AFP on Thursday.

The dead and injured have been moved to nearby hospitals and those responsible for the distribution were taken into custody, the interior ministry said in a statement carried by the rebel’s Saba news agency.

Authorities have called for an investigation.

The Houthi’s interior ministry did not provide an exact toll but said “dozens of people were killed due to a stampede during a random distribution of sums of money by some merchants”.

The distribution in the Bab al-Yemen area of Houthi-controlled Sanaa came days ahead of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan.

Videos circulating on social media showed bodies lying on the ground inside a large complex as people clamored around them.