|
6 injured, 4 missing in Rafah tunnel collapse
[Ma'an] Six Palestinians were hurt and four others remain missing after a tunnel collapsed under the Egypt-Gaza borders to the south of the coastal enclave on Friday after midnight, a medical official said. Muawiya Hassanein, director of Gaza's ambulance and emergency services, said medical crews evacuated six individuals who suffocated in the collapse. "The search is ongoing for the four others who went missing," he said. The collapse occurred west of the Rafah crossing between the As-Salam neighborhood and the Salah Ad-Din terminal in southern Gaza. On Wednesday, a Palestinian laborer was killed after a smuggling tunnel collapsed along the border between Egypt and Gaza. Hassanein said the body of 20-year-old Ibrahim Abu Lehia arrived at a hospital in the south. The incident comes a week after four Palestinians died and six were injured inside a tunnel in Rafah. Medics accused Egyptian forces of spraying a chemical as part of a crackdown on smuggling. Egypt denied using gas, but confirmed placing explosives inside a tunnel. Cairo has recently escalated its crackdown on the besieged Palestinian enclave, cooperating with Israel's blockade. Smugglers say officials are seizing goods almost daily, and regularly shutting down tunnel that serve as a lifeline to the coastal enclave's besieged populace. Posted by: Fred 2010-05-09 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=296343 |