Watch | WHO chief 'narrowly escapes death' as Israeli air strike hits Yemen airport

In an incident that has raised further concerns, the Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO) reportedly had a near death experience during the recent airstrikes conducted by Israel on Yemen.

The year 2024 has been marked by unprecedented intensification of the West Asia crisis, which led to the deaths of thousands of people. As tensions kept escalating, the effects of war and unrest were felt across a number of nations, including Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Yemen, and Syria.

Now, in an incident that has raised further concerns, the Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO) reportedly had a close brush with death during the recent airstrikes conducted by Israel on Yemen. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus - the WHO Director General - stated that he, along with his coworkers "escaped death narrowly" when an Israeli airstrike hit a Yemeni airport.

In an interview with BBC Radio 4's 'Today' program, the WHO chief shed light on his harrowing experience in Yemen and spoke about the entire turn of events that unfolded during the attack, which claimed the lives of at least six people, as per the outlet.

When the airport was struck, he and other United Nations (UN) delegates were departing Sanaa in western Yemen on Thursday. He revealed that the team had travelled there in order to discuss the release of UN detainees in the country and evaluate the overall humanitarian situation there.

The Israeli military claimed to have carried out "intelligence-based strikes on military targets" there that belonged to Houthi rebels supported by Iran.

"It was very chaotic, you know.. people were in disarray and running everywhere.. There was no shelter, so we were completely exposed. It's a matter of luck, otherwise if the missile deviated just slightly it could have been on our heads," Tedros told the BBC.

The 59-year-old condemned Israel's airstrikes asserting the fact that an airport is a facility meant for civilians.

"So my colleague actually said, after all that, we escaped death narrowly.. It doesn't matter whether I'm there or not. Any civilian life is life - my life is not better than another human being," he added.