Local Editor
One million Yemeni children are at risk of contracting deadly diphtheria as the fuel to supply running water runs out, Oxfam warned.
Crippled by war and starvation, the impoverished country is already at the mercy of the worst cholera outbreak ever recorded. Almost 950,000 suspected cases have been identified since April.
The epidemic had begun to ease in recent weeks, but with just a few days of fuel for water provision left, the international aid charity expects a fresh surge of cases.
Meanwhile, it warns that diphtheria is now on the rise, with at least 120 cases since the beginning of the month.
Another one million children are at risk and the charity is urging the Saudi-led coalition in control of key ports to lift the blockade driving the disease.
A lack of basic medicines, sanitation and foodstuffs is blamed for the chronic suffering of civilians in the 27m-strong country, where UK and US-backed Saudi forces head an international team that is bombing Yemen.
The Gulf kingdom and its allies back Yemeni resigned president Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi. The war has been raging for more than two years and 16m people — four in five — already lack access to clean piped water.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by Website Team
