The blast also left at least 67 individuals injured, with 40 in critical condition, the Houthi-run Health Ministry confirmed in a statement. Rescue teams are currently conducting search operations to locate several people reported as missing in the aftermath. The cause of the explosion remains unclear at this time.
Disturbing footage shared online shows the intense blaze, with towering columns of smoke rising into the air, as burning vehicles lay scattered at the site of the explosion.
#BREAKING 15 people have died, and 67 others were injured in four gas station explosions in southern Yemen’s Al Bayda Governorate.
This happened just hours after Yemeni Houthis attacked a US aircraft carrier. pic.twitter.com/gNJbbIVZnm
— War Intel (@warintel4u) January 12, 2025
Bayda, like much of northern Yemen, is under the control of the Iran-backed Houthi rebels, who have been embroiled in a protracted conflict with Yemen’s internationally recognised government for over a decade.
The roots of the current conflict date back to 2014 when the Houthis seized control of Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, and large swaths of the north, prompting the government to flee first to the south and eventually to Saudi Arabia. In March 2015, a Saudi-led coalition, supported by the United States at the time, intervened in the war in an effort to restore the government.
The ongoing civil war has claimed more than 150,000 lives, including both civilians and combatants. Over the years, the conflict has devolved into a stalemate, exacerbating Yemen’s already dire humanitarian crisis, one of the worst in the world.
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