Director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus was in Sanaa airport waiting to board a flight when it came under Israeli bombardment.
Israel has banned the pan-Arab Al Jazeera network and accused six of its Gaza reporters of being militants. The Qatar-based broadcaster denies the allegations and accuses Israel of trying to silence its war coverage, which has focused heavily on civilian casualties from Israeli military operations.
Israeli fighter jets launched a series of missile strikes on Yemen Thursday, including several that hit Sanaa International Airport near where World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus was preparing to board a flight.
The head of the World Health Organization said he was about to board a flight in the Yemeni capital when the airport came under bombardment.
World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus was about to board a plane at the Sanaa International Airport when it came under attack. A crew member on the plane was injured, he said.
Israel carried out attacks on targets in Yemen on Thursday, including an airport where the head of the World Health Organization was at the time of the deadly strike on the facility. NBC’s Raf Sanchez reports for TODAY.
Footage shared on Friday showed the World Health Organization chief running inside Yemeni airport as it was hit by Israeli strikes on Thursday. A new round of Israeli airstrikes in Yemen targeted the Houthi rebel-held capital and multiple ports.
The head of the World Health Organization said he narrowly escaped death in fatal Israeli strikes on the airport in Houthi rebel-held Sanaa.
The WHO Director-General said the explosions that rocked the building were so deafening that his ears were still ringing more than a day later.
STORY: This is the moment an Israeli air strike hit a tower at Yemen’s Sanaa airport on Thursday.Reuters verified the date by aftermath footage and reports of the strike, and was able to confirm the location as objects seen in videos matched file and satellite imagery of the area.
WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says it quickly became apparent the airport was under attack, with strikes "alarmingly" close to where he was sitting near the departure lounge.