Dozens killed in Yemen monsoon rain flooding

Heavy monsoon rains in southern Yemen left at least 18 people dead, the government-run news agency Saba reported on Wednesday.

MENA

1 min read

The New Arab

31 August, 2017

Heavy monsoon rains caused the death of 18 [AFP]

At least 18 people were killed in flooding caused by heavy rains in southern Yemen, the government-run news agency Saba reported on Wednesday.

Dozens of cars and vehicles were swept away after monsoon rains flooded the al-Maqatra Wadi in Lahj province, south-west of the city of Taiz, local officials were cited as saying.

“The bodies of 10 people have been found and a search is continuing for the other eight,” the agency quoted one official as saying, appealing for international help.

Concerns increased after aid organisations warned that the rainy season could exacerbate a cholera epidemic in Yemen.

Since it began four months ago, it has infected more than half a million people and killed nearly 2,000, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said earlier this month.

The cholera outbreak has compounded a major humanitarian crisis in Yemen, where a Saudi Arabia-led coalition intervened in a civil war in 2015, backing government forces fighting Houthi rebels.

More than 10,000 have been killed and millions more displaced since the conflict escalated with the Saudi-led coalition’s military intervention in March 2015.