(MENAFN- The Peninsula)
AFP
Hodeida, Yemen: Firefighting teams on Sunday were still battling a blaze at the Huthi-run port in Yemen's Hodeida, hours after an Israeli strike on the harbour triggered a massive fire and killed three people, according to the rebels.
Saturday's strike on the vital port, a key entry point for fuel and humanitarian aid, is the first claimed by Israel in the Arabian peninsula's poorest country, about 2,000 kilometres (1,300 miles) away.
It killed three people and wounded 87, many of them with severe burns, the health Ministry said in a statement.
Rescuers arrive at the scene of giant fire at an oil storage facility following Israeli strikes in Yemen's port city of Hodeida on July 20, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
Firefighters struggled to contain the blaze at the Hodeida port, with thick plumes of black smoke shrouding the sky above the city, said an AFP correspondent in the area.
Fuel storage tanks and a power plant at the port where still ablaze amid "slow" firefighting efforts, said a Hodeida port employee.
The port employee, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for security concerns, said it could take days to contain the fire, a view echoed by Yemen experts.
"There is concern that the poorly equipped firefighters may not be able to contain the spreading fire, which could continue for days," said Mohammed Albasha, senior Middle East analyst for the US-based Navanti Group, warning that it could reach food storage facilities at the harbour.
Hodeida port is a vital entry point for fuel imports and international aid for rebel-held areas of Yemen.
Despite assurances of sufficient fuel stocks, Saturday's strike triggered fears of worsening shortages, which war-weary Yemenis are ill-equiped to handle.
The attack is "going to have dire humanitarian effects on the millions of ordinary Yemenis living in Huthi-held Yemen," Nicholas Brumfield, a Yemen expert, said on social media platform X.
It will drive up prices of fuel but also any goods carried by truck, the analyst said.
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