Two Palestinians died on Saturday when a smuggling tunnel collapsed under the Egyptian borders with the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian health official said.

Mu'awiya Hassanein, emergencies director of the Health Ministry, said the rescue teams found dead bodies of two young men in one of the damaged tunnels in Rafah city, and the direct reason behind their death was suffocation.

A number of contraband workers went missing in the same tunnel, he added.

Since Israel imposed a blockade on the Gaza Strip in June 2007, more than 100 Palestinians were killed while smuggling through the tunnels to bring in food products, fuel and other goods Israel banned, according to Hassanien.

Egypt also stepped up efforts to stop smuggling from its territories to the Gaza Strip.

(Xinhua News Agency May 24, 2009)