Yemen war: Fire damages World Food Programme warehouses Published duration 31 March 2018 Related Topics Yemen crisis

media caption The warehouses contained aid including fuel and mattresses

A fire has destroyed large quantities of UN food and other humanitarian supplies in war-torn Yemen.

It broke out at a storage facility run by the World Food Programme (WFP) in the Red Sea port of Hudaydah.

Four warehouses holding 50 tonnes of food are said to have been destroyed. They also contained fuel and mattresses for displaced people.

The cause of the blaze is unclear. The Yemen conflict has killed about 10,000 people over the past three years.

In 2015, an assault by Houthi rebels on the city of Aden prompted a Saudi-led multinational coalition to launch a military campaign.

The UN has referred to the conflict in Yemen as "the world's worst humanitarian crisis" with more than 20 million people in need of humanitarian assistance.

In November last year, the Saudi-led coalition allowed aid deliveries to the port of Hudaydah and Sanaa airport following urgent UN appeals.