Dozens of people were killed during the month of Ramadan in the capital, Sana’a

At least 78 people were killed in a stampede at a school in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, during a Ramadan charity distribution, officials said.

Television footage shows a crowd of people unable to move, many in distress, in the Bab al-Yemen district of the city.

Hundreds of people reportedly swarmed the school late Wednesday to receive donations amounting to around $9 (£7; €8) per person.

The Houthi rebel group has controlled Sanaa since 2015.

A video posted on social media shows people screaming and dozens of dead bodies on the ground, some of them motionless. He looks at other people trying to help.

The Ministry of Interior said that two local businessmen who arranged the event have been arrested, and an investigation is underway.

A ministry spokesman blamed the stampede on the “random distribution” of funds without coordination with local officials.

A health official in Sanaa said several people were also injured, and 13 were in critical condition.

“Women and children were among the dead,” a Houthi security official told AFP on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters.

The rebels are said to have subsequently closed the school and prevented people, including journalists, from approaching.

The Houthis have reportedly agreed to pay $2,000 (£1,600) to each family who lost a relative, while the wounded will receive around $400 (£322).

The event occurred during the last days of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

Last week began a major prisoner exchange between Yemen’s warring parties, seen as part of intensified efforts to end the devastating eight-year conflict.

Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, head of the Houthis’ Supreme Revolutionary Committee, blamed Wednesday’s crushing on the country’s humanitarian crisis.

“We hold the countries of aggression responsible for what happened and the bitter reality that the Yemeni people live in because of the aggression and blockade,” he said on Twitter.