More than 50,000 Yemeni children are likely to die by the end of the year as a result of disease and starvation caused by the stalemated war in the country, Save the Children has warned.

Humanitarian groups estimate that around 130 children are dying each day in the Arab world’s poorest country as it grapples with famine and the largest cholera outbreak in modern history.

Around 40,000 children are estimated to have died already this year as a result of severe acute malnutrition and Save the Children projects that figure will be above 50,000 by the end of the Christmas period.

“These deaths are as senseless as they are preventable. They mean more than a hundred mothers grieving for the death of a child, day after day,” said Tamer Kirolos, the group’s Yemen director.