| Date | 19 April 2023 |
|---|---|
| Location | Old City of Sanaa, Yemen |
| Coordinates | 15°20′58″N44°13′08″E / 15.3495°N 44.219°E |
| Cause | Gunfire into electrical wire, causing an accidental explosion |
| Deaths | 90+ |
| Non-fatal injuries | 322+ |
On 19 April 2023, a crowd crush occurred in the Old City of Sanaa, the capital of Yemen, after people gathered in front of a school to receive the traditional alms of Zakat al-Fitr before the end of Ramadan. Shots fired by the Houthi militia, ostensibly for crowd control, caused an accidental explosion and panic. At least 90 people died and 322 people were injured in the ensuing crush. [1] [2]
In 2012, Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who had ruled for 31 years, was overthrown during the Yemeni Revolution. Post-revolution Yemen suffered a series of incidents and the Iran-backed Houthi movement captured large swaths of territory from government forces, which has led to the ongoing Yemeni civil war, [3] considered a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran. [4] As of April 2023, the country has plunged into "one of the world's largest humanitarian crises" according to UNICEF. [5] According to a March 2023 United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees estimate, at least 80% [6] or 21.6 million people in Yemen are in need of humanitarian assistance, [7] representing almost two-thirds of the country's population.
The crush happened on 19 April 2023, at about 20:20 in front of a school in the Old City of Sanaa, [2] two days before Eid al-Fitr, the end of Ramadan, [8] when hundreds of people were gathered hoping to receive about 5,000 Yemeni riyals (about US$9) per person as Zakat al-Fitr, from a local merchant in a financial aid distribution event in Houthi-controlled Sanaa. [4] According to eyewitnesses, during the aid distribution, the de facto administration Houthi militia fired shots into the air in an attempt to control the crowd, accidentally hitting an electrical wire, which caused it to explode, creating a panic that led to the crowd collapse. The crowd included women and children, and consisted mainly of low-income people who had gathered for the event organized by merchants. [8]
According to Motaher al-Marouni, a senior health official, at least 90 people died [1] and 13 individuals were critically injured, as reported by the Houthis' Al-Masirah TV channel. Hamdan Bagheri, the deputy director of Sanaa's al-Thowra Hospital, stated that the hospital received at least 73 injured people. [9] At least 322 people were injured. [2]
Following the incident, Houthis promptly sealed off the school and denied access to people, including journalists. [10] Two event organizers were detained. [11]
The Houthi-run Interior Ministry said that the crowd crush was caused by the "random distribution of sums of money by some merchants and without coordination with the Ministry of Interior". The Ministry confirmed that it had apprehended the two organizers and had initiated an investigation. [9] The Houthi "General Authority for Zakat" announced that it would compensate each family of the victims with 1,000,000 Yemeni rials (about US$4,000) and each injured person with 200,000 Yemeni rial (about US$800). [9] Other sources reported that the family of a victim would receive a sum of $2,000 and that Sanaa's Union of Chambers of Commerce would recompense each family $5,000. [12]
Saudi-backed media outlet Asharq Al-Awsat accused Houthis of using the opportunity to attack the commercial group which organised the event. [12]
The Houthi insurgency, also known as the Houthi rebellion, the Sa'dah War, or the Sa'dah conflict, was a military rebellion pitting Zaidi Shia Houthis against the Yemeni military that began in Northern Yemen and has since escalated into a full-scale civil war. The conflict was sparked in 2004 by the government's attempt to arrest Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi, a Zaidi religious leader of the Houthis and a former parliamentarian on whose head the government had placed a $55,000 bounty.
The Houthi movement, officially known as Ansar Allah, is a Shia Islamist political and military organization that emerged from Yemen in the 1990s. It is predominantly made up of Zaidi Shias, with their namesake leadership being drawn largely from the Houthi tribe.
Abdul-Malik Badruldeen al-Houthi, also known as Abi Jibril, is a Yemeni politician and religious leader who serves as the leader of the Houthi movement, a revolutionary movement principally made up of Zaidi Muslims. His brothers Yahia and Abdul-Karim are also leaders of the group, as were his late brothers Hussein, Ibrahim, and Abdulkhaliq. Abdul-Malik al-Houthi is the leading figure in the Yemeni Civil War which started with the Houthi takeover in Yemen in the Saada Governorate in northern Yemen.
The siege of Dammaj began in October 2011 when the Houthis, a Zaydi-led rebel group which controls the Sa'dah Governorate, accused Salafis loyal to the Yemeni government of smuggling weapons into their religious center in the town of Dammaj and demanded they hand over their weapons and military posts in the town. As the Salafis refused, Houthi rebels responded by imposing a siege on Dammaj, closing the main entrances leading to the town. The town was controlled by the Houthis and the fighting was mainly centered at Dar al-Hadith religious school, which was operated by Salafis.
The following lists events that happened in 2015 in Yemen.
"Yemeni Crisis (2011–present)" refers to events of the Houthi insurgency in Yemen, the Yemeni Revolution, the Al-Qaeda insurgency in Yemen and the South Yemen insurgency.
On 7 January 2015, a car bomb was detonated in front of a police academy in the Yemeni capital Sana'a, killing at least 38 people and injuring more than 60 others. This was the third major attack in the country in less than a month, after the deadliest attack in the country during 2014, as well as the second major bombing in less than a month, after the 2014 Rada' bombings and the 2014 Ibb bombing.
The Battle of Sanaa in 2014 marked the advance of the Houthis into Sanaa, the capital of Yemen, and heralded the beginning of the armed takeover of the government that unfolded over the following months. Fighting began on 9 September 2014, when pro-Houthi protesters under the command of Abdul-Malik al-Houthi marched on the cabinet office and were fired upon by security forces, leaving seven dead. The clashes escalated on 18 September, when 40 were killed in an armed confrontation between the Houthis led by military commander Mohammed Ali al-Houthi and supporters of the Sunni hardliner Islah Party when the Houthis tried to seize Yemen TV, and 19 September, with more than 60 killed in clashes between Houthi fighters and the military and police in northern Sanaa. By 21 September, the Houthis captured the government headquarters, marking the fall of Sanaa.
The 2015 Sana'a mosque bombings were four suicide attacks on 20 March 2015 in Sana'a, Yemen.
The Yemeni civil war is an ongoing multilateral civil war that began in late 2014 mainly between the Rashad al-Alimi-led Presidential Leadership Council and the Mahdi al-Mashat-led Supreme Political Council, along with their supporters and allies. Both claim to constitute the official government of Yemen.
On 26 March 2015, Saudi Arabia, leading a coalition of nine countries from West Asia and North Africa, launched an intervention in Yemen following a new joint request from Yemeni president Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi for military support after his forces were ousted from Sanaʽa by Houthi insurgents during the Yemeni Civil War. Government forces, Houthi rebels, and other armed groups fought after the draft constitution and power-sharing arrangements collapsed, despite progress made by the UN during the political transition at that time. Violence escalated in mid-2014. Houthis and allied insurgents seized control of Sana'a in September 2014 and thereafter. In response, President Hadi asked Saudi Arabia to intervene against the Iranian-backed Houthis.
The siege of Taiz is an ongoing, protracted military confrontation between opposing Yemeni forces in the city of Taiz for control of the city and surrounding area. The battle began one month after the start of the Yemeni Civil War.
The Houthi–Saudi Arabian conflict is an ongoing armed conflict between the Royal Saudi Armed Forces and Iran-backed Yemeni Houthi forces that has been taking place in the Arabian Peninsula, including the southern Saudi regions of Asir, Jizan, and Najran, and northern Yemeni governorates of Saada, Al Jawf, and Hajjah, since the onset of the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen in 2015.
The following is a timeline of the Yemeni civil war, which began in September 2014.
The Battle of Sanaa (2017) was fought between forces loyal to Ali Abdullah Saleh and the Houthis in the Yemeni capital of Sana'a. Both sides were allied during the 2014–15 Houthi takeover of the government but the alliance ended when Saleh decided to break ranks with the Houthis and call for dialogue with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, who are leading a military intervention in Yemen. Fighting then broke out between the Houthis and forces loyal to Saleh as the Saudi-led coalition began bombing Houthi areas, ultimately resulting in Saleh's death and a Houthi victory.
Mahdi al-Mashat is a Yemeni politician, Chairman of the Supreme Political Council and a military leader from the Houthi movement.
Events of 2020 in Yemen.
Events in the year 2022 in Saudi Arabia.
Crowd crushes for free goods in different cities in Pakistan in March, April, and June 2023 left 15 people dead and 45 others injured. In Karachi, 12 people, including three children, were killed and five others wounded during the distribution of zakat among the families of employees working at a private company. Meanwhile, in Charsadda, a city in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, one person died and eight others were injured in a crush for free flour during the first day of Ramadan. One died in Mirpurkhas. A crowd crush in Sakrand town, Shaheed Benazirabad, resulted in three females, including a minor, being injured. One old man died and eight people were hurt in Vehari and Muzaffargarh while receiving free flour. Finally, on June 26, a stampede in Karachi injured twenty-one women during the disbursement of funds for the Benazir Income Support Programme.
