Mon 10 August 2020:
In a statement issued on Saturday, the committee called on UNESCO to “immediately intervene and save the buildings in Sanaa Old City which are on the World Heritage List, from collapse and destruction and to address the severe damage caused to them by rain and floods.”
The distinctive brown and white mud brick houses of Sanaa’s historic neighborhoods, which date from before the 11th century, have long been under threat from conflict and neglect.
Muhammad Ali al-Talhi’s house partially collapsed on Friday as heavy rain battered Sanaa, leaving the six women and six children of his family homeless.
“Everything we had is buried,” he said surrounded by ancient debris and mud, appealing for help to find shelter.
Aqeel Saleh Nassar, deputy head of the Historic Cities Preservation Authority, said citizens today do not maintain these old buildings as in the past, leading to cracks and weakness.
This year’s exceptionally heavy rains, which began mid-April and last into early September, have added to what the United Nations describes as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.
Five years of war have killed more than 100,000 people, and left 80% of the population reliant on aid and millions on the brink of famine.
On top of the new coronavirus, which is believed to be spreading largely undetected, heavy rains spread diseases like cholera, dengue fever and malaria.
Sanaa resident Adel San’ani on Saturday told Reuters he saw five houses severely damaged this weekend.
“The families have no shelter. A local bank launched a campaign to distribute plastic sheeting to act as roofs,” he said.
Earlier, a Yemeni official from the Organisation for the Preservation of Historic Cities of Yemen (GOPHCY) said that 5,000 buildings in the Old City of Sanaa, which is under Houthi control, are at risk of collapse.
Dozens of people have died over the past few weeks due to heavy rain and floods across Yemen. The rain has also destroyed thousands of homes and displaced their residents.
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