At least 8 migrants were killed and hundreds more are injured after a massive blaze burned down a migrant detention facility in Yemen

• A massive fire swept through an overcrowded migrant detention center in Sana'a, Yemen.
• The majority of the migrants affected are Ethiopian, and the cause of the fire is unknown.
• More than 170 people are being treated for injuries; the death toll could be higher than first reported.

On Sunday, a fire ripped through a migrant detention facility in Sanaa, Yemen, killing at least 8 and leaving hundreds injured, according to the UN and the Associated Press.

The cause of the fire is still unknown, and the UN's International Organization for Migration (IOM) is calling for humanitarian access to determine how many migrants were affected.

According to the UN, more than 170 people are being treated for injuries sustained in the blaze, and the death toll could be higher than originally reported.

The detention center, in Houthi-run territory, was overcrowded with at least 900 migrants inside the facility at the time of the fire. According to the AP, the fire broke out in the hangar of the center, where the UN's IOM said that at least 350 migrants were staying at the time.

The UN confirmed that most of the migrants in the facility were Ethiopian, and the AP reported that most of the detainees were arrested in the northern province of Saada, attempting to cross into Saudi Arabia.

"While the cause of the fire is still unconfirmed, its impact is clearly horrific," Carmela Godeau, IOM's Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, said in a press release.

"This is just one of the many dangers that migrants have faced during the past six years of the crisis in Yemen," Godeau added.

-Carmela Godeau (@CarmelaGodeau) March 7, 2021

As the war between Iran-backed Houthis and a Saudi-led coalition in Yemen has entered its sixth year, migrants have faced a treacherous journey traveling between the Horn of Africa and Saudi Arabia in search of work and new lives.

According to the IOM, in 2019, 138,000 migrants traveled from Africa to Yemen, and in 2020, that figure decreased to 37,000 due to the pandemic. In January of this year, the IOM said that more than 2,500 migrants arrived in Yemen from Djibouti.

The lasting political volatility in Yemen has left migrants exposed to militias and traffickers along their routes.

According to the IOM, in March, 20 migrants were killed when smugglers pushed at least 80 migrants overboard on a boat headed from Djibouti to Yemen.