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1st LD: At least 160 killed, including top Houthi officials, by coalition airstrikes in Yemen: rescuers, witnesses

Xinhua, October 8, 2016 Adjust font size:

At least 160 people, including top rebel Houthi officials, were killed and dozens wounded when a series of airstrikes by Saudi-led coalition warplanes hit a mourning ceremony in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa on Saturday, rescuers and witnesses told Xinhua.

"We are pulling more and more charred bodies. I counted at least 160 bodies now and there are more under rubble of the funeral ceremony's big hall," Khaled Yosuf, a rescuer, told Xinhua.

Black smoke is still seen several kilometers away from the area. Ambulances and fire trucks were seen rushing to the scene.

Acting Interior Minister and rebel Houthi loyalist Jalal al-Ruwaishan and Capital Mayor Abdul-Kadir Hilal were feared to be dead, Yosuf added.

The mourning ceremony was held for the father of al-Ruwaishan at a big hall in the southern part of Sanaa.

Two airstrikes firstly bombed the vicinity of the big hall, and people fled outside.

Witnesses also told Xinhua that a third airstrike hit the hall directly afterwards, where hundreds of people were still crowded to offer condolences to al-Ruwaishan.

"After the first two air attacks, some people fled to the vicinity while some remain inside," a witness told Xinhua.

Streets leading to the hall were all closed by pro-Houthi security forces. Journalists and cameramen were prevented from getting into the scene.

Some witnesses said senior Houthi officials and their ally former President Ali Abdullah Saleh were in the hall.

Houthis, backed by Saleh's loyal forces, stormed Sanaa in September 2014, fighting against what they said "Hadi's government corruption."

They seized Sanaa and much parts of the country's north, forcing Hadi and his government to flee into exile.

The Saudi-led coalition launched a military air campaign against Houthis and Saleh's forces on March 26, 2015 to restore Hadi to power and recapture the capital.

The coalition's airstrikes and ground battles have since killed over 10,000 Yemenis, mostly children and women, injuring around 35,000 others and displacing three million others, according to UN reports.

Houthis and Saleh's forces still control the capital Sanaa and much parts of the war-stricken Arab country. Enditem