Yemeni security officials say an airstrike by the Saudi-led coalition has targeted a funeral hall packed with mourners in the capital, Sana’a on Saturday. More than 140 people are reported to have died and dozens injured.

The funeral was held for Sheikh Ali al-Rawishan, father of Interior Minister Galal al-Rawishan, an ally of both the Houthis and their chief ally, former President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

The Saudi-led coalition backs Hadi’s government in Yemen’s civil war.

Saudi-led coalition aircraft fired rockets at mourners for the father of the interior minister in the Houthi-dominated Yemeni government.

A missile tore through a hall in the south of the capital Sana’a where a wake for the father of Interior Minister Jalal al-Roweishan was being held, destroying the building.

The minister’s father had died of natural causes on Friday. It was not immediately clear if the minister had been hurt in the attack.

Witnesses said the attack came soon after the wake began, with at least two missiles being fired. One hit the building while the other fell nearby.

They described ambulances ferrying casualties from the scene, where a plume of black smoke rose into the sky. A medic said there were mutilated and charred bodies, but gave no figures.

One hospital said it had treated at least 20 people and sent them home.

Hospitals in Sana’a issued an appeal through the Houthi-run Saba news agency for blood to save the casualties.

Roweishan sided with Ansar Allah [Houthi] movement when President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi fled Yemen after the Houthis advanced on his headquarters in the southern port city of Aden in March 2015.
The Saudi-led coalition has been providing air support for Hadi’s forces in a civil war that has killed more than 10,000 people since March 2015.

• Agencies

[Photo: Saudi led coalition attacked building with mourners in Sana’a on 8 October 2016. Photographer: Yemen Post/Tweeters]