At least eight people killed by floods in Yemen in recent hours

At least eight people have died during the last hours in Yemen due to heavy rains that have shaken a country already devastated by war and famine.

Floods swept away a car in the southwestern province of Dhamar and eventually drowned the six occupants inside, the head of the provincial emergency services, Nashwan al Samawi, has told the Yemeni rebel-controlled Saba news agency.

In Yemen’s capital, Sana’a, under insurgent control since late 2014, two children were crushed to death when part of their house collapsed as a result of heavy rains.

Torrential rains lashing both the capital and surrounding areas since Saturday night have paralyzed traffic on several roads, local residents have told DPA.

The United Nations considers the conflict in Yemen a humanitarian disaster that has brought the country to the brink of collapse and has greatly deteriorated the national infrastructure.

A UN-brokered nationwide truce came into effect in Yemen in April; a ceasefire agreed by Government and the Huthi insurgency and renewed in June for another two months.