(Dubai) Searches continued Thursday in western Yemen for more than twenty people missing following floods caused by torrential rains, with a new provisional death toll of at least 16, according to the Al-Massira channel, affiliated with the Houthi rebels.
“Civil defense teams found 16 bodies” among the 38 people reported missing in the village of al-Mahwit, in the governorate of the same name, controlled by Houthi rebels, a local official was quoted by the channel as saying.
A previous report stated that 12 people were killed and 21 were missing in this locality where landslides and rockfalls destroyed many houses during the night from Tuesday to Wednesday.
“Roads cut off by flooding hampered the arrival of rescue teams for several hours […]but the operations [qui ont débuté mercredi] “The fighting continues,” Houthi Deputy Prime Minister Mohamed al-Mouftah said in al-Massira.
The torrential rains that have been falling in the west of the country for a week have caused extensive damage in this poor region, but also in the neighboring governorate of Hodeida.
In the town of Hais, Ahmed Souliman says he lost everything. “The floods took away our houses, our livestock, all our belongings, our blankets and everything that was in the house.”
“Our things, our beds, our food […] “The floods have washed everything away,” says another village resident, Saud Majashi.
The Houthi authorities, who control the capital Sanaa and large swathes of the country, announced on Wednesday the formation of a committee to manage the crisis and said they had started providing food and shelter to affected families.
The poorest country in the Arabian Peninsula, Yemen has been torn apart since 2014 by a conflict between rebels, supported by Iran, and the government supported by a coalition led by Saudi Arabia.
From late July to August 19, seasonal rains caused around sixty deaths and affected 268,000 people, according to the United Nations.