Deaths as drone falls on pedestrians in Yemen capital

At least three people have been killed in Yemen's capital when a drone aircraft crashed in a neighbourhood after being shot down, Houthi rebels said.

In a statement on Monday, the Houthis said that their air defence system downed the surveillance drone and that it belonged to the Saudi-led coalition with which they are at war. The Houthi claims could not be immediately verified.

"Our air defences downed a Chinese-made CH4 armed spy plane belonging to the Saudi air force with a surface-to-air missile," Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said on Twitter.

The health minister in the Houthi administration that runs Sanaa said another three people were wounded when the drone landed in a commercial area, the official news agency reported.

A spokesperson for the coalition did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Video from the scene showed what appeared to be a damaged pilotless aircraft in a street surrounded by security forces and onlookers.

READ MORE: Civilian casualties in Yemen 'halved' since ceasefire began

Truce extension

There is a truce in place in the war-torn poor Arab country that is set to expire at the beginning of June. United Nations officials, who helped broker the ceasefire, have said they hope it could be extended.

The truce is the first nationwide ceasefire in six years in Yemen’s civil war, which erupted in 2014. 

That year, the Iranian-backed Houthis seized the capital, Sanaa, and forced the internationally recognised government into exile. A Saudi-led coalition entered the war in early 2015 to try to restore the government to power.

The conflict has killed tens of thousands of people and caused a dire humanitarian crisis.

READ MORE: Houthi rebels mull extending UN-brokered truce in Yemen