More than 100,000 people in Yemen have left their homes in search of safety and at least 74 children have been killed since fighting in the country intensified almost two weeks ago, UNICEF said.
UNICEF said the violence has disrupted water supplies in areas of southern Yemen and that sewage is overflowing in some locations, raising the risk of disease outbreak.
Children are especially vulnerable, said the agency’s Yemen representative, Julien Harneis.
“They are being killed, maimed and forced to flee their homes, their health threatened and their education interrupted,” Harneis said in a statement, released on Monday in Amman, Jordan.
The agency said at least 74 children have been killed and 44 wounded since March 26, when a Saudi-led air campaign against Yemen’s Shiite rebels and their allies began.
“Conditions are very dangerous right now,” UNICEF’s Dr. Gamila Hibatullah in Aden was quoted as saying. “Hospitals are overflowing, and even ambulances have been hijacked.”
Water systems have been repeatedly damaged in three southern systems, including Aden, the agency said, adding that it is providing fuel for pumping water. It said that in other southern areas, there are reports of water accumulating in the streets and sewage overflowing.
