Sanaa, Oct 15 (IANS): Ten children with leukemia died after receiving smuggled medicines in a public hospital in Yemen's capital Sanaa, Houthi-run state media reported, citing a statement by the Houthi-controlled health authorities.

Meanwhile, nine other children are in critical condition after receiving the same smuggled medicines, said the statement released on Thursday evening, adding an investigation is underway, Houthi-run state media reported on Friday.

Smuggled medicines are common for hospitals across Yemen, which have been suffering from a shortage of drugs, equipment and funds for years, Xinhua news agency reported.

More than half of Yemen's medical facilities have been paralysed since a civil war broke out.

The Houthi rebels captured large swaths of northern Yemen in 2014 and drove the Saudi-backed Yemeni government out of Sanaa, plunging the Arab country into a civil war that continues to this day.

The war has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced 4 million, and pushed the Arab country to the brink of starvation.