Palestinian families displaced in the Gaza Strip faced a terrible tragedy after heavy rain and flooding caused a sand embankment to collapse onto several tents. At least four people were killed, including three children.
The incident happened on Sunday evening at the Ard al-Ribat displacement camp in Deir el-Balah, central Gaza. A large amount of sand collapsed onto the tents where Palestinian families were living, trapping people beneath the rubble.
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Among the victims was Tahrir, 36, who was five months pregnant, along with her two children, Salah, 8, and Maryam, 6. The only family member to survive was her husband, Ahmed al-Nabhan, who had recently been released from Israeli detention.
In another tent, the collapse killed Habiba, just 4 years old. Her mother and brother were taken to intensive care.
Zahira al-Sahar, 58, was in a tent with her 28-year-old daughter when the collapse happened. She said the sand had buried her up to her neck, while her daughter was almost completely buried.
Zahira’s sons managed to pull their sister out first, and then their mother. The rescue effort did not end the same way for neighboring families. “Our neighbors are buried,” the woman shouted as she called for help for the al-Nabhan family.
Residents who took part in rescue efforts said the embankment collapsed just minutes after the rain began. They said the scale of the collapse exceeded their capabilities and the equipment available to them.
UNICEF says heavy rainfall has directly affected around 106,000 people in Gaza, while thousands of tents belonging to displaced families have been flooded.
UN estimates indicate that, when the first winter storms hit the area, around 1.4 million people, or 65 percent of Gaza’s population, were living in tents and makeshift shelters.
The damage has been compounded by war-related destruction to infrastructure. Drainage systems have been severely damaged, roads are in poor condition, and local authorities lack the equipment needed to remove standing water.
Shaima al-Daour, 22, a nurse at the Ard al-Ribat camp, said she had tried to resuscitate a child pulled from the rubble. The child had suffered internal bleeding and did not survive.
The nurse also said that a 15-year-old with difficulty breathing urgently needed to be taken to hospital, but no ambulance was available in the area.
The storm was the first major winter storm to hit Gaza since November 6. The danger is expected to increase as hundreds of thousands of Palestinians continue to live in damaged tents without adequate protection from rain and low temperatures.
