In what it admitted is virtually certain to be an underestimate, the World Health Organization said Friday that at least 643 people have been killed in the troubled Mideast country of Yemen since fighting there escalated three weeks ago.
“As of 6 April 2015 there have been a total of 643 deaths and 2226 injuries,” the WHO, the health arm of the United Nations, said in a statement. “Casualty estimates are likely to change in the coming days as additional cases are verified and reported.”
In that same period — from March 19 to April 6 — 2,226 people were injured, the WHO said.
But the agency’s figures include only deaths and injuries verified by a health facility. Other deaths and injuries have undoubtedly occurred.
Increasing numbers fleeing in rickety boats
Security in the country, which is on the Arabian Peninsula, deteriorated sharply last month, when Houthi rebels advanced on the capital, Sanaa, and the port city of Aden, forcing President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi to flee the country.
Since then, Saudi Arabia has launched airstrikes meant to halt the advance of the Houthis. In at least one case, according to Houthi sources, one of those strikes hit a school.
As the violence increases, foreigners, including longtime residents, are fleeing Yemen. And an increasing number of desperate Yemenis are taking to rickety fishing boats to attempt the dangerous five-hour crossing of the Red Sea to Djibouti, where the government is providing refugees with temporary shelter.
One family described their crossing as “a window into hell.”