A Brooklyn couple trapped in Yemen have been dodging snipers during a dangerous struggle to escape the war-ravaged country — and are praying they can make a final cruise to freedom on a rickety freighter filled with onions.
Saleh Mothana and his pregnant wife, Zaneb, were forced to bribe the ship’s captain to get a spot aboard the vessel because sailors in the port city of Mocha are afraid of getting caught carrying Americans.
“They almost didn’t allow me to board because I’m a US citizen,” Saleh Mothana told The Post in an exclusive interview. “But I greased the right hands and secured my wife and myself a spot onboard.”
The couple returned to Yemen last year to care for Zaneb’s ailing mom in the port city of Aden. But with the approach of Houthi rebels, who have already forced Yemeni President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi to flee, the town became a battle zone.
“It’s a war in a city. The fighting happens in the street,” Saleh Mothana wrote to The Post in a text message.
The family tried to escape by finding a ship leaving from Aden, but as they drove down to the city’s port, they became caught up in the rampant violence.
“As we stopped [in Aden], a Houthi rebel turned from behind the building from the left and just started shooting towards the car,” Mothana wrote. “My brother-in-law quickly put the car in reverse and got us out.”
Once at the port, they failed to find a ship that would carry them.
“We tried leaving [by ship] in Aden but between the Houthi snipers shooting and the lack of ships . . . we left for Mocha,” he said.
The 3¹/₂-hour trip to Mocha took five hours because the family had to dodge bombs being dropped by Saudi fighter planes that were targeting the Houthis.
Finally, in Mocha, Saleh Mothana was able to bribe the captain of a ship carrying a cargo of onions.
As of Wednesday, the couple was still waiting to find out if the captain would keep his part of the bargain when the ship set sail.
“I’m not trying to burden my wife since she’s pregnant,” he said. “I want to make it as easy as I possibly can for her. She’s a trooper.”
Mothana is one of several Americans who are part of a lawsuit filed against the US government for not rescuing them or issuing proper evacuation orders.