Gaza, September 13: Two Palestinians were killed while three others were missing after a smuggling tunnel running under the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt collapsed Saturday, witnesses and medical officials reported.
Gaza emergency chief Mo’aweya Hassanein told reporters that two local residents were killed when the tunnel, which ran from the southern Gazan town of Rafah to Egypt, suddenly collapsed.
Rescue teams were rushed to the area and pulled out two bodies, he said, noting that rescue activities for three other missing people in the tunnel at the time of the collapse were continuing.
Security sources from Hamas, the party which has de facto control of the Gaza Strip, said the reason for the tunnel’s collapse was not immediately known. Residents said they heard a huge blast shortly before the collapse.
In June 2007, Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip and routed security forces loyal to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. In reaction, Israel imposed a tight blockade on the Gaza Strip in June 2007, closing all commercial crossings.
Since then, Palestinians have dug hundreds of tunnels for smuggling everything from fuel, food, medicine, beverages and electric generators from Egypt into Gaza.
Israel destroyed dozens of tunnels during and after a 22-day Israeli air, ground and sea offensive that ended Jan 18, saying those tunnels are also used for smuggling weapons to Gaza militants.
Gaza-based human rights groups said in different reports that more than 120 Palestinians have died in tunnel collapses, explosions caused by leaking fuel, or during Israeli air attacks carried out against the tunnels.
—Agencies