Houthis admit their forces caused fire at Yemen migrant centre

Group says 11 security personnel detained in connection with the blaze that left at least 45 migrants dead.

Yemen’s Houthi rebels have admitted their forces caused a fire that killed 45 people at a migrant centre earlier this month, saying more than a dozen soldiers and officials face punishment. Houthi security forces had responded to a protest at a Sanaa holding facility on March 7 by launching three tear gas canisters without obtaining permission from their command, according to a statement carried by the rebels’ Saba news agency late on Saturday. “One of the three [canisters] landed on a foam mattress, resulting in a fire that spread rapidly,” it said.