AL-MUKALLA: Torrential rains caused a landslide in Al-Jaref village in Dhamar province on Friday night, killing at least 27 people and leaving two missing, local media said on Saturday. This was the second deadly landslide in Yemen in less than a week.
Houthi media reported that the landslide also damaged or destroyed 23 houses in the hillside village.
Locals said that at least two dozen individuals were trapped inside two homes as a landslide caused by the collapse of a hilltop dam swept them away.
The bodies of at least 10 people were discovered in Dhamar hours after the landslide.
Elsewhere, local authorities in the district of Melhan in the northern province of Mahweet say communities in flood-affected areas remain isolated, putting inhabitants in danger of starvation if food supplies run out.
According to the UN Population Fund, landslides caused by the collapse of three dams ripped through several highland villages in Melhan on Tuesday night, leaving 41 people missing, affecting 1,020 families, destroying 40 homes, and partially damaging 230 others.
Local authorities say that the floods swept away some roads and obstructed others, making it impossible for even donkeys to access the stranded communities.
Abdul Kareem Adham, a member of Melhan local council, said on Facebook that people were “surviving on biscuits” as food supplies run low in the Al-Qibla area.
Since late July, severe rains have affected several areas of Yemen, notably the central highlands and western provinces, causing massive floods that have swept away houses and their inhabitants, submerged residential areas, and devastated roads, water pipelines, and other infrastructure.
In an update released on Friday, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said that, over the last month, floods in Yemen have killed 97 people, wounded many more, affected more than 56,000 households in 20 Yemeni districts, and displaced over 1,000 families. The provinces of Hodeidah, Hajjah, and Marib have been most adversely affected.
Local estimates suggest the number of fatalities from floods and lightning strikes since late July stands at more than 120, with 84 in the Red Sea city of Hodeidah alone.
Residents of Hodeidah said that the flooding had altered the path of watercourses and had reached residential areas on the city’s outskirts.
Meanwhile, an explosion swept through a gas station in the southern city of Aden on Friday night, killing two and injuring at least 17 others, local officials said.
Salah Al-Akel, deputy governor of Aden, told Arab News that flames erupted at a gas station when a gas truck was emptying its cargo, triggering an explosion that killed two people, including a worker and an unidentified person, and injured 17, five of whom are still in hospital.
He said municipal officials had blocked gas stations in the city and will carry out safety inspections before allowing them to reopen.
“We decided to permit the sale of gas at fuel stations, but that the gas-only stations that have recently proliferated around the city would be closed, owing to a lack of safety rules,” Al-Akel said.
