51 dead in Yemen stampede

IBB, Yemen - At least 51 people have been killed and 238 injured after a stampede in a Yemeni stadium where President Ali Abdullah Saleh was holding a pre-election rally.

A Yemeni official, who declined to be named, said people were crushed after the president left the rally and the crowd rushed to get out of the stadium in the southern province of Ibb.

A reporter at the scene said the stadium was very crowded, with people standing on the ground as well as in the stands. Some 150,000 people were inside the building and an even larger number had thronged the streets surrounding it.

He saw ambulances and police cars rushing the injured to hospital.

"The president promised to compensate the families who lost a relative today. They will receive monthly salaries," said the official, who said 42 had died and more than 80 had been hurt.

The other official said later 51 people had been killed and 238 injured.

In Taiz province, 250 km southwest of the capital Sanaa, at least four people were killed and 10 injured on Monday in a stampede at a similar election rally, government officials told Reuters without giving further details.

Ibb, which is both the name of the town and the province, is about 170 km south of Sanaa.

Yemen is due to hold presidential and local council elections on September 20. Saleh, the poor country's long-serving president and the front-runner in the poll, is touring Yemeni provinces to drum up support for his campaign.

Previous elections have been marred by shootings between members of rival parties in Yemen, where many people carry arms, but stampedes are unusual.

Other than the two stampedes, at least eight people have been killed so far in the run-up to the vote which five candidates, including Saleh, are contesting.

- REUTERS