Attack on mourners in Yemen kills 82 - acting health minister

Record ID: 82936

  • Title: Attack on mourners in Yemen kills 82 - acting health minister
  • Date: 8th October 2016
  • Summary: SANAA, YEMEN (OCTOBER 8, 2016) (REUTERS) ***WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS YEMEN'S ACTING HEALTH MINISTER, GHAZI ISMAIL, TALKING DURING NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) YEMEN'S ACTING HEALTH MINISTER, GHAZI ISMAIL, SAYING: "The Saudi-American aggression committed a heinous crime today, on this Saturday afternoon, by attacking a mourning hall in the capital for the al-Roweishan family, targeting residents in the hall. As a result, 534 people were wounded and 82 people were martyred." JOURNALISTS AT NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) YEMEN'S ACTING HEALTH MINISTER, GHAZI ISMAIL, SAYING: "The Ministry of Health condemns this inhumane crime that violates all humanitarian, international and Islamic norms. We hold the international community and the United Nations responsible for the continued crimes against the Yemeni people and their land." JOURNALISTS AT NEWS CONFERENCE CAMERAMEN
  • Embargoed: 23rd October 2016 20:38
  • Keywords: Yemen airstrike attack deaths
  • Location: SANAA, YEMEN
  • City: SANAA, YEMEN
  • Country: Yemen
  • Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Civil Unrest
  • Reuters ID: LVA001535A0XZ
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Saudi-led warplanes killed at least 82 people when they struck mourners at a hall in the Yemeni capital Sanaa on Saturday (October 8), the acting health minister in the Houthi-run administration said, but the coalition denied any role in the incident.
    Ghazi Ismail also said that 534 other people were wounded in the air strike in the southern part of the city, where a wake was taking place for the father of the administration's interior minister, Jalal al-Roweishan, who had died of natural causes on Friday (October 8).
    The death toll was one of the largest in any single incident since the Saudi-led alliance began military operations to try to restore President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi to power following his ousting by the Iran-aligned Houthis in March 2015.
    Sources in the Saudi-led coalition said there was no Arab coalition air role in the strike.
    The Saudi-led coalition has been providing air support for Hadi's forces in a civil war that has killed more than 10,000 people since March 2015 and displaced more than three million.
    Fighting has intensified since August when U.N.-sponsored peace talks in Kuwait ended without an agreement.
    Iran, Saudi Arabia's main regional rival, described the attack as "a horrific and inhuman crime", and called for the resumption of peace talks among all Yemeni parties.
    Residents said aircraft fired two missiles at the hall, where hundreds of mourners had gathered to offer condolences.
    One missile tore through the building, setting it on fire and sending a large plume of smoke above the area. The other landed nearby.
    Witnesses described a scene of carnage, with charred or mutilated bodies strewn around. Ambulances raced to carry the wounded to hospitals, which sent out urgent appeals for blood.
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