Palestinian dies after electric shock in Gaza tunnel

Medical sources have confirmed that a Palestinian boy has been killed by an electric shock in one of the tunnels linking Gaza and Egypt. Dr. Muawiya Hassanein, the director of the ambulance and emergency services in Gaza, said that the boy, Atef Eid Al-Najjar, 17, died following an electric shock on 13 June inside a tunnel in the Brazil area, south of Rafah. An ambulance team recovered the victim’s body and took it to the Abu Youssef Al Najjar Hospital. Just two weeks ago, seven Palestinians were killed when smuggled gas canisters exploded in another tunnel linking Egypt and the besieged territory.

The death of Al-Najja brings the number of those killed in tunnels in the past two years to 155, according to official Palestinian statistics. Palestinians use the tunnels to smuggle goods and fuel to the Gaza Strip that has been under an illegal blockade by Israel and Egypt since the summer of 2007. The Egyptian authorities have almost finished an underground steel wall being built to sever the tunnels and stop the smuggling.