Smashed cranes at Yemen's Hodeida port, which is held by the Houthis, are hindering the entry of relief supplies to ease a deteriorating humanitarian crisis, the UN aid chief said Wednesday (October 5th), AFP reported.
On a visit to Saudi Arabia, UN aid chief Stephen O'Brien said aid flow needed to increase at the Red Sea port, through which 80 to 90% of Yemen's supplies transited before the war.
"The real issue is the restriction of unloading capacity at the port because the cranes are smashed," said O'Brien, who heads the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
The war has killed more than 6,600 people, displaced 3.15 million and left about a quarter of Yemen's population "not sure where the next meal is coming from", he said.
O'Brien said efforts were being made to find "a better unloading capacity, as well as make sure there are no administrative burdens which are slowing the process".
The coalition has imposed a sea blockade on Yemen to prevent weapons reaching the Houthis, but O'Brien said a UN inspection mechanism to check commercial ships bringing supplies was working well, "with many ships now cleared to come into Hodeida".
