Yemen child prodigy badly burned in bombing

A child prodigy who once dreamed of leading a Yemeni space programme, 15-year old Abdullah al-Sanabani may now lose his leg and fingers after a suspected Saudi-led airstrike on a family wedding killed his relatives and left him badly burned.

Abdullah’s intellect shined a rare bright light on desperately poor, war-damaged Yemen, where tragedies like his are now routine for a generation struggling for a decent future.

Six months of conflict between a Saudi-led alliance and the Shia Houthi forces in control of the capital, has killed at least 500 children, according to the United Nations. Countless others have been forced to go hungry, flee home for their lives, or join the fight as child soldiers.

The young scientist’s invention of a solar-powered remote control car that could flip over and become a boat won him an international competition in 2012 and a free visit to Nasa, the American space agency. Asked if he would stay focused on his studies and advance science in his now war-torn homeland, a tired Abdullah, who is convalescing in a Jordanian hospital said, “God willing.”

His uncle Hussam remembers the boy tinkering with gadgets and charging mobile phones with solar panels, but wonders anxiously whether he will be able to enjoy his passion.

“He was so into life, into learning, English and computers. All of his dreams and aspirations could be lost now. His future is now in the hands of fate.”

A success story in the making, Abdullah’s progress halted when a wedding party he attended with extended family was hit by a missile in central Yemen on October 7.

“Three of my wife’s brothers were all having a wedding. At around 9:30 at night when the brides arrived to the house, we heard the sound of the Saudi airplanes attack it with missiles,” the boy’s father, Qais, said from the burn unit ward in Amman’ King Hussein hospital.