More than 170 dead in Yemen floods

Sanaa: Flash floods triggered by torrential rains have killed at least 172 people across Yemen over the past month, damaging homes and UNESCO-listed world heritage sites, officials said. The destruction has dealt a new blow to a country already in the grips of what the United Nations describes as the world´s worst humanitarian crisis after years of war between a Saudi-backed government and Iran-allied rebels. In the mainly government-held province of Maarib east of the capital, 19 children were among 30 people killed by the floods, a government official said. In the province´s displaced persons camps, 1,340 families saw their tents and belongings swept away, the agency in charge of them said. In Lahij province in the government-held south, seven people were drowned when their vehicle was swept downstream, a government official told AFP. Another four people were killed on the road connecting the southern provinces of Hadramawt and Shabwa, the official added.