Dangerous tunnels (Archive)
Photo: Reuters
Man burned to death in Gaza tunnel
Egyptian police pull two men from smoldering entrance of tunnel used to smuggle fuel into Gaza
An Egyptian man was killed and two men were injured on Friday in a fire which broke out in a fuel tank at the Egyptian end of a tunnel used for smuggling supplies to the Gaza Strip, police sources said.
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An Egyptian official said police saw flames and smoke coming from what later turned out to be a tunnel entrance. They pulled two men from the tunnel.
A medical representative in North Sinai, Imad Kharboush, said one man died from his injuries. He said the other man, who was badly burned, escaped from the hospital.
Officials said the fuel tank, in a room in a house near the border, held about 1,500 liters of diesel fuel for delivery to Gaza through a plastic pipeline underground.
The Egyptian government has promised to crack down on the smuggling, in response to US and Israeli requests, but police sources in the border area say the tunnels are still working.
It was not immediately clear what caused the fire.
AP contributed to this report
