By Staff, Agencies

Scores of people have been killed and hundreds more injured in Yemen's capital due to a stampede that broke out during a charity distribution.

Yemeni health officials told AFP on Thursday that at least 85 were killed and 322 were injured following the incident in the Bab al-Yemen area of Sanaa on Wednesday night.

Earlier, a spokesman for the Yemeni interior ministry said in a statement, "Dozens of people were killed due to a stampede during a random distribution of sums of money by some merchants."

The interior ministry statement said the dead and injured have been moved to nearby hospitals and those responsible for the distribution were taken into custody, according to the Saba news agency.

Authorities have called for an investigation.

The distribution came days ahead of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan.

Videos circulating on social media showed bodies lying on the ground inside a large complex as people clamored around them.

A new UN report says millions of Yemenis are now facing hunger. The UN has described the situation in Yemen as the world’s “worst humanitarian crisis,” caused by seven years of war and a tight siege launched by Riyadh and its regional allies against the poor Middle Eastern country.