UN Says Regained Access to Key Wheat Silos in Hodeidah

The UN food agency said it has regained access to major grain storage in the Yemeni port city of Hodeidah for the first time since February.

World Food Program (WFP) spokesman Herve Verhoosel says a technical team accessed the Red Sea mills facility Sunday, where some 51,000 metric tons of wheat — enough to feed 3.7 million people for a month — had been in storage when the site was rendered inaccessible in September, the Associated Press reported.

Houthis previously blocked access, preventing WFP from crossing a front line into the government-controlled area where the silos are located.

According to Reuters, the 51,000 tonnes of wheat were at risk of rotting.

Meanwhile, a WFP technical team arrived in the eastern outskirts of Hodeidah on Sunday to start preparing and servicing equipment for milling grain.

Verhoosel said its priority was to begin cleaning and servicing milling machinery and fumigating the wheat.

The UN expects that process to take several weeks before starting to mill it into flour and distributing it to the Yemeni communities most in need, Reuters reported.