AT LEAST 78 people were killed and about 73 injured during a stampede at an event to distribute financial aid during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in Yemen’s capital late on Wednesday.

The tragedy was Yemen’s deadliest in years and was not related to the country’s long-running war. 

This came ahead of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan later this week.

Witnesses report that armed Houthis fired into the air in an attempt at crowd control, apparently striking an electrical wire and causing it to explode, according to two witnesses, Abdel-Rahman Ahmed and Yahia Mohsen. 

The incident sparked a panic which led to a stampede.

Video posted on social media showed dozens of bodies, some motionless, and others screaming as people tried to help. 

Separate footage of the aftermath released by Houthi officials showed bloodstains, shoes and victims’ clothing scattered on the ground. Investigators were seen examining the area.

The crush took place in the Old City in the centre of Sanaa, where hundreds of poor people had gathered for a charity event organised by merchants, according to the Houthi-run Interior Ministry.

People had gathered to receive about $10 (£8) each from a charity funded by local businessmen, witnesses said. Wealthy people and businessmen often hand out cash and food, especially to the poor, during Ramadan.

Interior Ministry spokesman Brigadier Abdel-Khaleq al-Aghri, blamed the crush on the “random distribution” of funds without co-ordination with local authorities.

The Houthi rebels quickly sealed off a school where the event was being held and barred people, including journalists, from approaching the scene.

The Interior Ministry said that it had detained two organisers and an investigation was underway.

The Houthis said that they would pay $2,000 (£1,604) in compensation to each family who lost a relative, while the injured would get $400 (£321).

Yemen’s capital has been under the control of the Iranian-backed Houthis since 2014.

That prompted a Saudi-led and US-backed coalition to intervene in 2015 to try to restore the previous government.

The conflict has turned in recent years into a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran, killing more than 150,000 people and creating one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters.

More than 21 million people in Yemen, or two-thirds of the country’s population, need help and protection, according to the United Nations Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Among those in need, more than 17 million are considered particularly vulnerable.