By Ahmad Shihadah
Impunity Watch Reporter, Middle East

SA’NA, Yemen – At least seven people were killed in a Sa’na shanty town in the worst flooding to hit the Yemeni capital in over a decade, officials said on Thursday.

Witnesses said water streamed down from nearby mountains on Wednesday evening after torrential rain into a low-lying residential area of eastern Sa’na with no drainage system, flooding hundreds of homes.

“A flood suddenly appeared and invaded the houses,” said Jamil Mohamed, a resident of the flooded shanty town.

Of the seven people who died, some drowned and others were killed by falling electricity pylons, officials said. Two more people were hurt and in hospital.

President Ali Abdullah Saleh toured the affected areas of the capital, the defense ministry’s online newspaper said.

Western countries and neighbor Saudi Arabia fear impoverished Yemen, fighting Shi’ite rebels in the north and southern separatism, may turn into a failed state from which al Qaeda could intensify attacks on the region and beyond.

The country shot to the top of Western security concerns after a Yemen-based al Qaeda wing claimed responsibility for a failed bomb attack on a U.S.-bound passenger plane in December.

In the capital, where many streets remained flooded, rescue operations continued and more than 250 people were evacuated from their homes and taken to shelter in schools. More rain was forecast for Thursday but was not expected to be as heavy.

There has been unusually heavy rainfall across the Arabian peninsula this week, with two people killed in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, on Monday.

In 2008, severe flooding killed approximately 180 people. Aid agencies said 10,000 people were made homeless.

For more information, please see:

Reuters – Seven Die In Worst Floods In Yemen Capital In Decade – 6 May 2010

BBC – Seven Yemenis Die In Heavy Rains – 6 May 2010

Middle East Online – Heavy Rainfall Kills Seven In Yemen – 6 May 2010