Crew members of a Yemeni commercial ship who survived a deadly attack by Houthi rebels earlier this week said a second missile struck the vessel just as rescue efforts from the initial strike were underway, causing even more chaos and casualties.
Three ballistic missiles fired by the Iran-backed Houthis struck the ship in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, just off Yemen’s coast, as it was coming into port, killing six people and injuring at least nine others, according to Yemeni authorities.
It was part of an escalating campaign by the Houthis and their first deadly attack this year on a vessel navigating the strait, which connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and accounts for roughly 12% of global trade.
“People were burning … it was a strange scene of doomsday,” said Zaheer Ahmed, a Pakistani crew member recovering at a hospital in the port city of Mokha.
“I shouted for help and a Yemeni soldier came to my aid,” said Ahmed, who injured both legs.
All three of the crew members The Associated Press interviewed Wednesday at the hospital described intense fire, panic and damage aboard the ship, which was struck before dawn on Tuesday.
Muhammad Alteno, an Indonesian crew member, said he was in “complete shock” after witnessing another Indonesian crew member — a friend — die in the attack.
Alteno said he had tried to rescue his friend, who was trapped inside the room they shared, after the first missile strike.
“But the flames were so intense that I couldn’t breathe,” Alteno said. “I managed to escape with some of the [other] crew members.”
Two members of Yemen’s government-allied National Resistance Forces were killed in the attack, as were three crew members from Pakistan.
