From BBC News · · 2m
Four killed as sand embankment collapses on Gaza tent camp
Heavy rain triggers deadly collapse at displaced families' camp near Deir al-Balah, with rescuers digging survivors from sand and rubble by hand.
In brief
Heavy rain triggers deadly collapse at displaced families' camp near Deir al-Balah, with rescuers digging survivors from sand and rubble by hand. Three children and one woman died when a sand embankment collapsed onto tents in central Gaza after heavy rain on Sunday night, with five others rescued. Originally reported…
Sand embankment collapses on tent camp
Three children and one woman were killed when a sand embankment collapsed onto tents in central Gaza on Sunday night.Five injured people were reportedly rescued from the camp for displaced families south of Deir al-Balah.
Heavy rain preceded the collapse
Torrential rain on Saturday reportedly flooded tens of thousands of tents across Gaza. The Civil Defence said water levels reached up to one point five metres in some places.
The victims identified
The woman killed was identified as Tahrir Nabhan. The children were named as Mariam Nabhan and her brother Salah, and Habiba al-Zein.
Rescuers dug with bare hands
Mustafa al-Masri told the BBC that he and other rescuers used their bare hands to dig victims and survivors out of sand and rubble. He described the mound as huge and wide.
“It was extremely difficult. This mound was huge and wide. It collapsed onto the tent, and we didn't know what to do.”
Civil Defence calls for urgent action
The Civil Defence warned that tents must not become death traps beneath sand and rainwater. It called for international organisations to provide safe shelters and move tents away from sandy areas and slopes.
“Protecting the lives of displaced people is an urgent humanitarian responsibility. Their tents must not become death traps beneath sand and rainwater.”
Aid insufficient for winter needs
Karl Baker, the International Organization for Migration's regional crisis co-ordinator, told the BBC that Gaza's two point one million population was confined to only thirty percent of its total area.
“We need more support, in-kind donations. We need funding in order to help the communities to help themselves.”
Israel limits equipment deliveries
Cogat, the Israeli military body tasked with co-ordinating deliveries, said more than ninety-one thousand tents and twelve vacuum trucks for waste removal have been delivered since the start of the Gaza Winterization Plan.
Wider displacement crisis continues
An estimated eighty percent of all structures in Gaza have been destroyed or damaged during the war.
The one thing
Three children and one woman died when a sand embankment collapsed onto tents in central Gaza after heavy rain on Sunday night, with five others rescued.
