Yemen: Red Cross Forced to Buy Own Emergency Fuel Due to Saudi Blockade
Local Editor
The International Committee of the Red Cross [ICRC] was forced to purchase emergency "stopgap" fuel in order to stop two cities in Yemen from completely running out of drinking water.
Meanwhile, the UN and various aid organizations warned that more than 7 million people in Yemen are living on the brink of famine, and, without access to commercial imports such as fuel, millions more lives are in danger.
Without unfettered access to goods such as fuel generators, which power hospitals, and treated drinking water, the country is still on track for a large-scale famine.
The fuel shortage is now "critical", with water systems in nine cities left without fuel to run pumps, ICRC spokesperson Iolanda Jaquemet said on Wednesday.
More than a dozen health facilities have already been forced to close for lack of water.
"As a last resort and in light of the large and urgent needs... we are purchasing fuel to supply the urban water corporations in Hodeida and Taiz with fuel, enough to operate their water pumps for one month," she told Reuters.
The lack of fuel has a "cascading impact on several vital sectors", Jaquemet added.
Prices of food as well as fuel have risen sharply as a result of the recent three-week long blockade, the World Food Program said last week.
It is estimated an additional 3.2 million people have been pushed into hunger as a result.
More than 20 million Yemenis - two-thirds of the population - have become reliant on humanitarian help since the war erupted in March 2015.
More than 10,000 people have died in the conflict to date as a result of violence, the world's largest cholera epidemic, starvation and other diseases. Aid agencies warn the true statistics are likely to be much higher.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
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