CAIRO According to health officials on Sunday, at least 15 people were killed in a major fire in central Yemen that was started by an explosion at a petrol station.
According to a statement from the Houthi rebel-run Health Ministry, the explosion happened on Saturday in the Zaher region in the province of Bayda. Forty of the at least 67 people injured were in critical condition.
Rescue crews were looking for people who had been reported missing, according to the ministry. The reason of the explosion was not immediately apparent.
Videos of a huge fire that left cars scorched and smoldering and shot smoke columns into the sky went viral online.
Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, who have been at war with Yemen’s internationally recognized government for almost ten years, are in control of Bayda.
The internationally recognized government claims that last week, the Houthis invaded and looted Hanaka al-Masoud hamlet in the al-Qurayshiya area of Bayda. There were fatalities, but no numbers were provided.
The village had been under siege for a week prior to the operation, according to Information Minister Moammar al-Eryani.
He claimed that numerous people, including women and children, were killed in this horrifying attack that targeted mosques and homes belonging to locals. Property was also destroyed.
According to rights campaigner Riyadh al-Dubai, the Houthis arrested scores of men and pillaged homes, taking valuables like cash, gold, daggers, and other items. He added that for over five days, the Houthis had been shelling nonstop, day and night.
In a statement, the U.S. Embassy in Yemen denounced the attack and said that the Houthi terrorists’ killings, injuries, and unlawful detentions of innocent Yemenis are denying the Yemeni people peace and a better future.
After the rebels seized control of the capital, Sanaa, and a large portion of the country’s north in 2014, the government was forced to evacuate to the south and later to Saudi Arabia, sparking the start of Yemen’s civil war. In an attempt to reinstate the internationally recognized government, a Saudi-led coalition joined the conflict in March 2015 with support from the United States at the time.
The conflict has claimed the lives of over 150,000 people, including both combatants and civilians. In recent years, it has mainly degenerated into a standoff and resulted in one of the worst humanitarian catastrophes in history.