The United Nations called Tuesday for an independent probe of a fire in Yemen’s capital that killed dozens of migrants in a holding facility.
“There must be an independent investigation into the cause of the fire,” the UN envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, told the Security Council.
Human Rights Watch earlier Tuesday blamed the March 7 fire on “unidentified projectiles” fired by Yemen’s Huthi rebels.
The Iran-backed militants control much of northern Yemen, including the capital Sanaa, which was captured from the Saudi-backed government in 2014, sparking a devastating war.
Griffiths said, “the world was reminded of the plight of the migrant community last week when an extraordinary, horrific fire broke out at a detention facility in Sanaa holding predominantly Ethiopian migrants.”
He said dozens were killed in the fire and over 170 seriously injured.
HRW said detainees had been protesting against overcrowding when camp guards rounded up hundreds of them into a hangar and fired two projectiles into the building.
“The migrants said the first projectile produced a lot of smoke and made their eyes water and sting. The second, which the migrants called a ‘bomb,’ exploded loudly and started a fire,” HRW said.
“Huthi authorities should urgently engage with Ethiopian authorities whose nationals are languishing in Yemeni detention centers under their control,” HRW said.
