Eight people have died, and 170 have been injured following a fire at a migrant detention centre in Yemen.

According to the BBC, the camp, in the capital, Saana holds hundreds of migrants, mostly Ethiopian. Although the initial death toll has been confirmed as 8, officials fear that the number could rise in the coming days.

A statement by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) read: “The total number of migrants who died in the fire at the Immigration, Passports and Naturalization Authority (IPNA) Immigration Holding Facility remains unconfirmed, as official records have yet to be released. Over 170 people have been treated for injuries, with many remaining in critical condition. 

“IOM personnel were present at the site when the fire broke out in a hangar next to the main building. Nearly 900 migrants, predominantly Ethiopian, were in the overcrowded holding facility at the time of the fire. More than 350 were in the hangar area. 

“Teams of IOM health workers and ambulances, and over 23,000 medical items including intravenous fluid, trauma kits and other essentials, were immediately dispatched to the facility and to major hospitals to provide urgent life-saving assistance alongside the Ministry of Public Health and Population.”