Human rights groups call for probe after Yemen child cancer patients killed by expired medicine

Human rights organisations have called for international bodies to open an investigation into the deaths of 10 child cancer patients in an area of Yemen controlled by the Houthi rebels after they were given expired medicine.

The Houthi-run health ministry said Friday that at least 10 children being treated for leukaemia in the rebel-held capital Sanaa died after medicine with "bacterial contaminations" had been administered to them.

The medication had passed its expiry date, a medical source in Sanaa told AFP, asking not to be identified for security reasons.

In a joint statement, rights groups SAM Organisation for Rights and Freedoms, the American Centre for Justice, and Jusoor Organisation called on Friday for  "a committee of the World Health Organisation, UNICEF and Yemeni health experts with expertise and independence to investigate the medical disaster".

The Houthis, who control the Yemeni capital Sanaa, had blamed the tragedy on the Saudi-led coalition's air and sea blockade of Yemen. 

But the three rights groups accused the Houthi rebels of scapegoating, considering it "an unethical attempt to evade legal responsibility for this crime, which must be investigated by a neutral party".

They also warned that the death toll looked likely to rise.

The health sector in Yemen, the Arab world's poorest country, has been devastated by years of war between the rebels and Yemen's internationally recognised government, backed by the Saudi-led military coalition.

It has cost the lives of hundreds of thousands of people, many through indirect causes such as hunger and disease.