Four people have been killed in flash floods following heavy rains in the historic Yemeni city of Tarim, state media said yesterday.
The city, located in the central province of Hadramawt, is best known for its mud-brick structures and more than 360 mosques including Al-Mehdar, which has the tallest minaret in the country.
The state-run Saba news agency reported four dead and an unspecified number of injured as a result of heavy rains on Sunday, and said three residences had collapsed. AFP footage showed streets of the city flooded and mud-brick buildings damaged, with vehicles and motorcycles buried under debris and mud. Residents said the victims’ bodies were transported to hospital.
“I pulled my children out of the building, and rescue teams came and transported us to a school to take shelter,” said Saeed al-Mas, whose house was destroyed. Dozens of people are killed every year across Yemen in flash floods.
Fierce storms have added to the woes of the war-torn country, which the UN has described as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
Tens of thousands of people have been killed and millions pushed to the brink of famine in the years-long conflict between the government — supported by a military coalition — and the Houthi rebels.
Local authorities have said that due to the conflict, they have struggled to raise funds to maintain historic sites in the impoverished country.