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SANAA, Oct. 8 (Xinhua) -- At least 450 people were killed or injured from Saudi-led coalition air strikes on mourners in the capital Sanaa on Saturday afternoon, Houthi-controlled Saba news agency reported.
"This issued primary toll is for killed and injured together, as hospitals are still receiving more injured," Saba quoted Houthi-appointed health minister Abdulsalam al-Madani as saying.
The Yemeni health ministry has issued an appeal for citizens to donate blood for the victims.
Earlier in the day, rescuers and witnesses said a series of air strikes by Saudi-led coalition warplanes hit a mourning ceremony in Sanaa.
The mourning ceremony was held for the father of the acting interior minister and rebel Houthi loyalist Jalal al-Ruwaishan.
"We are pulling more and more charred bodies. I counted at least 160 dead bodies until now and there were more under the rubble of the funeral ceremony hall," Khaled Yosuf, one of the rescuers, told Xinhua.
He said al-Ruwaishan and the capital mayor Abdul-Kadir Hilal were feared to be dead.
Some witnesses said senior Houthi officials and their ally former President Ali Abdullah Saleh were in the hall.
Streets leading to the hall were all closed by pro-Houthi security forces. Journalists and cameramen were prevented from getting into the scene.
Houthis, backed by Saleh's loyal forces, stormed Sanaa in September 2014, fighting against what they said "Hadi's government corruption."
They seized Sanaa and many parts of the country's north, forcing Hadi and his government to flee into exile.
The Saudi-led coalition launched a military air campaign against Houthis and Saleh's forces on March 26, 2015 to restore Hadi to power and recapture the capital.
The coalition's air raids and ground battles have since killed over 10,000 Yemenis, mostly children and women, injuring around 35,000 others and displacing three million others, according to UN reports. Enditem
