SANAA, Yemen (AP) — A Yemeni hospital official says the death toll from an airstrike by the Saudi-led coalition near the flashpoint Red Sea port of Hodeida has climbed to 19.
The director of the Bayt el-Faqih hospital, Abdullah Shahawi, says all the victims are civilians.
The airstrike, which hit an outdoor fruit and vegetable market on Wednesday in the town of Bayt el-Faqih, just south of Hodeida, also wounded another six people. Initial reports had five dead.
Yemeni security officials confirmed the strike but didn’t know what the intended target was. It’s not uncommon for coalition jets to hit civilians in the brutal three-and-a-half year war. Wedding parties, funerals, residential homes and hospitals have been struck.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to reporters.