A fire broke out on Wednesday in the electrical control room of the May 22 Stadium in Yemen's business capital of Aden, ravaging all power generators and equipment inside, a local official said.

The official said flames rose in the air from the room under the platform allocated for the media which will cover the 20th Gulf Football Cup through November 22 to December 05 in Aden and Abyan provinces.

Excessive pressure and loads on the generators may have caused a short-circuit that led to the fire, the source added.

Also, eyewitnesses said they saw thick smoke billowing upwards, ambulances rushing to the stadium and police surrounding it, with cars and people barred from passing at the stadium.

Director of the stadium, where the main matches of the football cup will be held, Abdul Rahman Al-Samawi, however, said later that the smoke billowing over the stadium came from an experiment testing the ability of civil defense to control a fire ahead of the championship that Yemen will host for the first time.

The test came within final preparations for the handover of the stadium to the Ministry of Youth and Sports, he said.

The people in the area told local media that the fire caused a power outage for an hour.

Last month, Yemen said it was 100 per cent ready and it had completed all arrangements for hosting the championship.