At least eight dead in fire at Yemeni migrant center, UN says

IslamNews – A fire broke out Sunday in a detention center for migrants in Yemen’s capital, killing at least eight people and injuring more than 170 others, the U.N. migration agency said.

The International Organization for Migration said the cause of the fire at the detention center, south of the city of Sanaa, was not immediately clear. Over 90 wounded migrants were in serious condition, it said. The death toll could be much higher, it said.

The detention center is run by the Houthi rebels, who have controlled the capital since the outbreak of Yemen’s conflict more than six years ago. The rebels said civil defense teams managed to extinguish the fire and that investigations were ongoing to determine its cause.

A U.N. official said the fire broke out in a hangar close to the main building of the detention center, which was housing more than 700 migrants.

Most of the migrants were arrested in the northern province of Saada, while trying to cross into Saudi Arabia, said the official who spoke on condition of anonymity because she was not authorized to brief the media.

Source: AP