SANAA, May 5 (NNN-SABA) – Torrential rains and flooding killed two children in Yemen’s central province of Ibb, in the last 24 hours, pro-government media reported, citing local residents.
According to al-Masdar news website, a nine-year-old girl was swept away by floods, in al-Mashannah district, in the centre of Ibb, while a 14-year-old girl drowned in the floods, when she shepherded sheep on the highlands of al-Sayyani district in south Ibb.
Several villages in the two districts have been damaged by the torrential rains and floods.
In the past two weeks, at least seven people, including five children, have been killed by floods in the northern provinces of Marib and Sanaa, according to local health authorities.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Yemen, estimated that, 21,240 families (148,680 people) have been affected by flooding in 13 provinces since mid-Apr.
The UN aid agencies expressed fears of the potential spread of deadly epidemics in the rainy season, in the war-ravaged country, where cholera has infected over one million people and killed more than 2,000 since 2017.
Meanwhile, Yemen, on Monday, reported two new cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 12.– NNN-SABA
