2 Palestinians die in tunnel rescue mission

GAZA CITY: Two Palestinians were killed overnight in a smuggling tunnel between Gaza and Egypt, the Hamas-run Interior Ministry said yesterday. One of the casualties was a Hamas police officer and the other a citizen.

They were on a mission to rescue three tunnel workers who had called for help after inhaling toxic gas, according to a spokesperson. Witnesses said Egypt pumped the gas into the tunnel. They succeeded in rescuing them but the pair died after they inhaled the gas. Civil defence teams extracted the bodies of the two men from the tunnel.

They also rescued two other security officers who had participated in the mission and evacuated them to hospital as they were suffering from gas inhalation.