A landslide triggered by heavy rain and high winds in Gaza has killed five people, including a mother and her two young children. The incident occurred on Sunday when a sand bank collapsed near a camp for displaced families south of Deir al-Balah, burying at least three tents.
Witnesses described a desperate effort to rescue those trapped under the sand and rocks. One witness, Abdul Karim al-Sahhar, recounted the horrifying scene, stating that people were buried and their tent completely disappeared. The father of the family, who was outside the tent at the time, survived the collapse and pleaded for help to save his children.
Rescue efforts were hampered by a large boulder that had fallen on the victims, requiring young men to break it into pieces to reach them. Another witness described the collapse as sounding like an explosion. Video footage showed residents using tools to search for survivors in the rubble.
The United Nations reported that over 26,000 households experienced damage to shelters or belongings due to recent rainstorms. Unicef noted that the overcrowding in Gaza, where many live in temporary shelters, makes such tragedies likely. The Hamas-run government media office stated that approximately 70,000 tents were flooded, and some structures collapsed, causing injuries.
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Source: theguardian.com
