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15 injured in blast in northern Gaza

Xinhua, May 15, 2015 Adjust font size:

At least 15 Palestinians were injured on Thursday in a blast at one of the training facilities belonging to Palestinian militants in northern Gaza Strip, medics and security officials said.

Ashraf al-Qedra, Gaza health ministry spokesman, told reporters that at least 15 people were injured in a huge explosion in a military training facility at al-Atatra area in northern Gaza Strip.

However, officials in Gaza ministry of interior said that the blast occurred when explosives experts were trying to defuse an unexploded Israeli F16 missile, which had suddenly went off and wounded 15 people.

Al-Qedra said that the wounded were taken to the hospitals in northern Gaza Strip and in Gaza city, without giving more details.

Witnesses said that they heard a huge explosion that wrecked the area of al-Atartra, adding that an Israeli rocket which hasn't exploded during last summer's Israeli war in Gaza blew up.

They also said that the missile was detonated while militants were trying to defuse it at one Hamas movement's training facilities known as "Salatin Training position."

Ambulances and firefighters arrived to the scene, while security forces prevented journalists and civilians from approaching the place.

In July 8 last year, Israel waged a 50-day large-scale military air and ground operation on Gaza Strip militant groups, firing tens of thousands of missiles and tanks shells on the coastal enclave and killing more than 2,000 Palestinians.

The security forces and armed groups in the Gaza Strip warned that several Israeli rockets and missiles were still unexploded, which are considered dangerous. Enditem