More than 80 people have been killed and hundreds injured in war-torn Yemen after a charity distribution sparked one of the deadliest stampedes in a decade.
According to Arab media reports, the tragedy late on Wednesday to strike the Arabian Peninsula's poorest country came days ahead of the Muslim holiday of Eid al Fitr which marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan.
The stampede happened late on Wednesday as hundreds of people crowded into a school in Sanaa in the hope of getting a charitable donation of about $10 that was being handed out by merchants to mark the final days of Ramadan.
At least "80 were killed and more than 322 were injured" after the stampede in the Bab al Yemen district of the capital, a security official said.
"Women and children were among the dead," he told reporters on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to journalists. A second health official confirmed the toll.
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.
The 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".
