Yemen urges int’l probe into migrant centre fire

Sanaa, March 10 : Yemen’s government has called for an international investigation into a deadly fire at a migrant detention facility in capital Sanaa that claimed the lived of at least 60 people.
According to a statement released by the state-run Saba News Agency on Tuesday, Information Minister Muammar Iryani strongly condemned “the horrific crime committed in a detention centre for the African immigrants”.
He said that “the incident occurred after launching a crackdown campaign by the Houthi militia that arrested African migrants from the city’s streets and public markets, offering them the choice of joining the fighting or facing imprisonment and deportation,” Xinhua news agency reported citing the Saba statement.
The Minister demanded “an international, transparent and independent investigation to uncover the details behind the deadly incident and holding perpetrators accountable”.
The fire broke out on Sunday at the overcrowded detention centre affiliated with the Passports and Naturalisation Authority complex, which is controlled by the Houthi militia.
An official of Sanaa’s local authorities told Xinhua that “the initial death toll caused by the blaze indicated that nearly 60 people were killed and 100 others injured most of them Ethiopian immigrants”.