4 Gaza workers found dead in tunnel underneath borders with Egypt

Four Palestinian workers from the Gaza Strip were found dead in a tunnel underneath the borderline with Egypt used for smuggling goods from Egypt into Gaza, medics said Sunday.

Ashraf al-Qedra, spokesman of the Gaza Health Ministry, told reporters that rescue teams and civil defense pulled out the bodies of four local workers from a tunnel under the borders with Egypt.

He said that a fifth one is still missing and rescue teams are still searching for him, adding that the four bodies were taken to a hospital in southern Gaza.

After Israel imposed a tight blockade on the Gaza Strip in 2007, in the wake of Hamas movement's violent takeover of the enclave, the Palestinians dug hundreds of tunnels to defy the Israeli blockade and bring their needs.

However, in 2013, the Egyptian army carried out a large campaign that aimed at around 1,400 tunnels used for smuggling goods from Egypt to Gaza. Egypt said that it destroyed more than 95 percent of the tunnels.

Residents of Rafah town close to the borders with Egypt said that very few tunnels are still operating and used for smuggling goods, mainly cigarettes.

Gaza rights groups said that since the start of the Egyptian army campaign against tunnels and pumping sewage waters into it, around 23 Palestinians died in various incidents in tunnels. Endit