DUBAI: The Iran-backed Houthi militants confirmed Wednesday that 44 migrants have been been killed in a fire at a detention camp last week in Sanaa after two projectiles were fired into the center.
"The victims are 44 migrants and the wounded are 193, most of whom have gone to hospital, and there is an investigation into the reasons for the incident,” Houthi official Hussein Al-Azi was quoted by al-Masirah television as saying.
The statement is the first by a Houthi official on the incident.
On Tuesday, Human Rights Watch released a report on the camp fire that killed scores of mostly Ethiopian immigrants.
Survivors said in the report they were told to say their “final prayers” before Houthi militia men launched projectiles into the detention center.
They said the Houthi forces rounded up migrants and locked them in the hanger on March 7 following a clash with detainees who were protesting against mistreatment and poor conditions in a hunger strike.
The United Nations on Tuesday called for an independent investigation into the cause of the fire.
(with AFP)
