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1st LD: Dozens killed in explosions at arms depot in Yemen's Aden

Xinhua, March 28, 2015 Adjust font size:

Dozens were killed and more others were wounded in a series of blasts at an arms depot in Yemen's southern port city of Aden on Saturday, a government official told Xinhua.

"Hundreds of people gathered near the arms depot of Jabel Hadeed in Aden city attempting to loot weapons, but unfortunately the bombs inside exploded and killed dozens of people," the official based in Aden said on condition of anonymity, without giving the exact number of casualties.

Xinhua reporter saw 15 bodies at a hospital near the arms depot, and several other hospitals said they also received victims' bodies and dozens of wounded persons.

The official said "the explosions took place after many people rushed into the depot in Jabel Hadeed mountains. Causes of the accident are unknown."

"Several residential buildings near the blast site were damaged and dozens of families were evacuated later," the source added.

"My house is about to collapse due to the continuous blasts. It is a disaster," said Hassan Baker who lives near the scene.

Local residents told Xinhua that "black smokes still could be seen at dusk."

An official with the health ministry department in Aden told Xinhua "at this moment we couldn't collect the death toll since they were brought to various hospitals across Aden, but there were dozens of killed and injured."

The Aden province has been simmering with tensions and armed confrontations for over three weeks with various chaos and looting acts that targeted government institutions.

Chaos spread in the city as the Shiite Houthi group was fighting against pro-Hadi tribal militias on the outskirts.

Yemen's embattled President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi fled to Aden in late February after weeks of house arrest by the Houthi group in the capital Sanaa, and stepped up confrontations with the Houthis who took over control of the capital last September.

He attended the Arab League Summit held in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on Saturday to court support from other Arab countries.

On Saturday afternoon, Yemeni foreign ministry said Hadi has left Egypt and headed to Saudi Arabia with King Salman bin Abdel-Aziz. Endit