Nine women and one child have died after a Saudi-led coalition war plane struck a funeral gathering in Yemen, officials have said.

A strike which hit a house in which mourners were gathered north of the capital on Wednesday also injured dozens more civilians, witnesses said.

The home of a local tribal leader in Ashira, a village north of Sanaa, was destroyed in the strike, a resident told Reuters. Locals had gathered there to offer condolences after a woman in the family died.

2.1 million children are facing famine in Yemen

“People heard the sound of planes and started running from the house but then the bombs hit the house directly. The roof collapsed. Blood was everywhere,” a second resident, who gave his name as Hamid Ali, said.

Yemeni media published pictures of people searching through the rubble of Mohammed al-Nakaya’s house. Mr Nakyaya is allied to Yemen's Houthi movement, the Shia insurgents currently in control of most of the country.

One picture widely shared online showed a middle-aged man kneeling on the ground, cradling the body of an elderly woman.

The Saudi-led Arab coalition announced Thursday that it will investigate the attack on the funeral and whether civilians were deliberately targeted.

The situation in Yemen Show all 14 1 /14 The situation in Yemen The situation in Yemen Houthi supporters trample on a US flag during a gathering mobilizing more fighters into several Yemeni battlefronts, in Sana'a, Yemen EPA The situation in Yemen People carry the coffins of men, who were killed in the recent Saudi-led airstrikes during their funeral, in the Old City of Sanaa, Yemen AP The situation in Yemen Pro-government fighters give food to Yemeni children on the road leading to the southwestern port city of Mokha. Yemeni rebels are putting up fierce resistance in a key Red Sea port city where they are encircled by pro-government force Getty Images The situation in Yemen A Yemeni stands in front of a graffiti protesting US military operations in war-affected Yemen, in Sana'a, Yemen. According to reports, US Special Forces troops allegedly disembarked from US helicopters in the Yemeni town of Yakla and attacked several houses belonging to members of the terrorist group Al-Qaeda, killing three high-ranking Al-Qaeda members and nine civilians, six women and three children. One American serviceman has been killed and three injured in the attack EPA The situation in Yemen US Special Forces troops allegedly disembarked from US helicopters in the Yemeni town of Yakla and attacked several houses belonging to members of the terrorist group Al-Qaeda, killing three high-ranking Al-Qaeda members and nine civilians, six women and three children. One American serviceman has been killed and three injured in the attack EPA The situation in Yemen A Yemeni female fighter supporting the Shiite Huthi rebels, and carrying weapons used for ceremonial purposes, takes part in an anti-Saudi rally in the capital Sanaa Getty Images The situation in Yemen Yemeni female fighters supporting the Shiite Huthi rebels, and carrying weapons used for ceremonial purposes, take part in an anti-Saudi rally in the capital Sanaa Getty Images The situation in Yemen A boy shouts slogans next to pro-Houthi fighters, who have been injured during recent fighting, during a rally held to honour those injured or maimed while fighting in Houthi ranks in Sanaa, Yemen Reuters The situation in Yemen Balls of fire and smoke rise from a Houthi-held military camp following alleged Saudi-led airstrikes, in Sana'a, Yemen EPA The situation in Yemen Yemenis search under the rubble of damaged houses following reported Saudi-led coalition air strikes on the outskirts of the Yemeni capital Sanaa Getty Images The situation in Yemen A Yemeni boy looks on as Yemenis search under the rubble of damaged houses following reported Saudi-led coalition air strikes on the outskirts of the Yemeni capital Sanaa Getty The situation in Yemen A Yemeni boy sits amidst the rubble of damaged houses following reported Saudi-led coalition air strikes on the outskirts of the Yemeni capital Sanaa AFP/Getty The situation in Yemen Marine One with US President Donald Trump flies with a decoy and support helicopters to Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Delaware, for the dignified transfer of Navy Seal Chief Petty Officer William 'Ryan' Owens who was killed in Yemen Getty Images The situation in Yemen US President Donald Trump aboard the Marine One to greet the remains of a US military commando killed during a raid on the al Qaeda militant group in southern Yemen on Sunday, at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, US Reuters

“We are aware of media reports that Houthi rebels are claiming that Yemeni civilians were killed in an air raid overnight near Sanaa,” the coalition said in statement.

“There has been fighting between Yemeni armed forces and rebels in this area in recent days. We are investigating the reports.”

Yemen is currently in the grips of an almost two-year long civil war which has pitted Houthi rebels against the internationally recognised exiled government. More than 10,000 people have died in the conflict, which has also exacerbated disease and hunger.

Extremist groups such as al-Qaeda have also taken advantage of Yemen’s chaos, establishing several strongholds in the country.

Since March 2015 a Saudi-Arabia led coalition of mainly Gulf Arab states has bombed Houthi and al-Qaeda positions at the request of the ousted President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi’s government.

The campaign has drawn international criticism for allegedly targeting civilian infrastructure, causing unnecessary lose of human life that the UN says could amount to war crimes.

In the single worst incident in October 2016, the bombing of a funeral gathering in Sanaa killed around 140 people.