An airstrike by the Arab coalition targeted a building used by police in Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, killing at least 35 people and wounding about 15, security officials said Monday.
The officials, who are loyal to anti-government rebels known as the Houthis, said some 30 more people are believed to be still trapped under the debris of the badly damaged building in the city center.
Security forces swiftly sealed off the area as earth-moving equipment arrived to help with the search for bodies and survivors under the debris. Officials initially announced that 20 people were killed, but later said that six bodies were unearthed from under the debris.
Police vehicles parked in the facility’s courtyard were destroyed and nearby homes suffered some damage, they said.
The dead and wounded were policemen and Houthi rebels, the officials said. The targeted building was partially used as a gathering point for security forces and on occasions used by the Houthis as an assembly point for forces headed to deployment elsewhere in Yemen.
The airstrike happened shortly before midnight Sunday, according to the officials, who had no further details. Reporters were barred from approaching the facility, they said, speaking Monday on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
