Saudi coalition officials could not immediately be reached for comment

At the Saudi Mission to the United Nations, which was hosting a briefing on Saudi Arabia’s humanitarian relief efforts in Yemen on Wednesday, Ambassador Abdallah Y. Al-Mouallimi did not confirm that Saudi-led forces were responsible for the bombing. But the ambassador said his country tries to carry out any military activities in Yemen “in a responsible and very cautious manner.”

Asked whether the Saudis bore any of the responsibility for the humanitarian disaster afflicting Yemen, the ambassador said: “absolutely not.” He cast blame on the Houthis, asserting they had blocked or impeded access to civilian areas under their control.

Houthi officials said that some of those killed were security officials at a checkpoint on the outskirts of the capital. Most, however, were civilians.

A United Nations official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk about the events before the release of an official report, said a conservative estimate was that 30 people were killed or wounded in the hotel. It was hard to know for sure, he said, because rescue teams were still searching for bodies.

The conflict in Yemen has already left 10,000 people dead, displaced two million more from their homes and caused severe food shortages, according to United Nations reports. A recent report by the World Health Organization said that a severe outbreak of cholera had infected half a million Yemenis, with more than 2,000 dead so far. That crisis has worsened as the fighting disrupted medical facilities and fresh water supplies, the agency said.

The international airport in Sana has been closed for a year now, making it difficult for Yemenis to seek medical care outside the country. The Saudi-led coalition recently proposed that the United Nations reopen and manage the airport, but there seems little likelihood of that if airstrikes continue near the capital.

The airstrike near Sana came on the same day that Saudi pilots took Gen. Joseph L. Votel, the head of the United States Central Command, to the Saudi-Yemen border. It was unclear why the Saudi-led coalition would choose the same day that the top American commander for the region was visiting the border to carry out an airstrike near Sana, particularly one that caused civilian casualties.