Nearly 80 people have been killed while several others injured at a Ramadan charity event in Yemen.

According to Houthi officials and local media reports, a stampede in Yemen’s capital resulted in at least 78 fatalities and hundreds of injuries.

The stampede occurred late on Wednesday as a school in Sanaa was crowded with hundreds of people hoping to receive a charitable donation of around $10 that was being distributed by vendors to mark the last days of Ramadan.

Report says in an effort to control the crowd, armed Houthis fired into the air, hitting what appeared to be an electrical wire, which exploded and terrified the people waiting.

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In a video released by the Houthis’ Al Masirah TV channel, bodies were huddled together, and people were climbing on top of one another to try to squeeze through.

Separate images made public by the Houthis, who rule the capital, showed bloodstains, shoes, and clothing belonging to the victims lying on the ground as investigators examined the area.

Meanwhile, the country’s Ministry of Interior says the merchants who organised the event had been detained and an investigation was underway.

The Houthis also announced they would pay some $2,000 in compensation to each family who lost a relative, while the injured would get about $400.

Yemen has been in a state of political crisis since 2011, when President Ali Abdallah Saleh resigned following a new wave of protests inspired by the Arab Spring uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt.

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, more than 21 million people in Yemen, or two-thirds of the population, require aid and protection.