Government statistics: 136 victims of fires in IDP camps in Marib in 5 years

Recent government statistics revealed the death and injury of 136 people as a result of fires that broke out in displacement camps in Ma'rib Governorate, eastern Yemen, during the past five years.

According to statistics issued by the Executive Unit for the Management of Displaced Persons Camps in Marib Governorate, 136 people were killed or injured as a result of 708 fires that broke out in displacement camps spread across the governorate during the period between 2020 and 2024.

The statistics showed that these fires resulted in the death of 34 people and the injury of 102 others with varying degrees of severity, and the destruction of hundreds of shelters, tents, nets, caravans and homes belonging to internally displaced families and African refugees in the governorate.

According to the statistics, the year 2024 topped the list in terms of the number of victims, with 41 victims (3 dead and 38 injured), followed by 2022, which witnessed 33 victims (14 dead and 19 injured), then 2023 with 28 victims (6 dead and 22 injured), while the number of victims in 2020 and 2021 was equal, with 17 victims in each, (5 dead and 12 injured) for the first, and the second (6 dead and 11 injured).

Statistics indicate that the year 2023 was the year with the highest number of fire incidents in displacement camps in Marib, with 219 incidents, followed by 2024 with 207 incidents, then 2022, which witnessed 114 incidents, and 2021, which recorded 102 incidents, while 2020 was the year with the lowest rate of fires, with only 66 incidents.

The statistics showed that most of the causes that usually lead to fires in displacement camps are the use of tents as kitchens, random connection of electricity, fire spreading to tents, and the explosion of household gas cylinders.

The Executive Unit called on humanitarian partners to take practical steps to reduce fires and their damage to displacement camps in Marib and their residents, including: replacing emergency shelters with more permanent ones, safely re-maintaining and reconnecting electricity, and activating emergency numbers and awareness programs about the dangers of fires.