Seven killed as floods hit houses in Yemen capital

Sana'a: At least seven people were killed in a Sana'a shanty town in the worst flooding to hit the Yemeni capital in over a decade, officials said on Thursday.

Witnesses said water streamed down from nearby mountains on Wednesday evening after torrential rain into a low-lying residential area of eastern Sana'a with no drainage system, flooding hundreds of homes.

"A flood suddenly appeared and invaded the houses," said Jamal Mohammad, a resident of the town. President Ali Abdullah Saleh toured the affected areas of the capital, the defence ministry's online newspaper said. Western countries and neighbour Saudi Arabia fear impoverished Yemen may turn into a failed state from which Al Qaida could intensify attacks.