Fire in Gaza-21 killed
2022.11.18 13:17
[ad_1]
Fire in Gaza-21 killed
Budrigannews.com – Mourners flooded the streets of Gaza on Friday as they carried the wrapped bodies of 21 people, including at least eight children, killed in a fire in an apartment block that residents had planned to celebrate the homecoming of relatives.
Most of the dead were members of the Abu Layya family, whose bodies were wrapped in Palestinian flags, brought to the mosque for soul prayers and buried in the martyrs’ cemetery east of the Jabaria refugee camp.
The Muslim Hamas group, which has controlled the Gaza strip since 2007, gave military funerals to the victims.
It took firefighters more than 8 hours to gain control of a massive blaze exploding from the top floor of a 4-storey residential building in Jabaria, one of the 1 refugee camps in the Gaza Strip.230 million people live in one of the most densely populated areas on Earth 1.
Details about how or why the fire broke down remain unclear, as there were no survivors, said Abu Ahmad Abu Rayya, the head of the clan.
“The father, his children and his grandchildren did not come out alive to tell us what had happened,” Abu Layya told the crowd in a tense voice.
Gaza’s Interior Ministry said it had launched an investigation into the incident, which revealed that a large amount of gasoline had been stored at the site, possibly fueling the flames that quickly engulfed the building.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called it a national tragedy and declared Friday a day of mourning.
Several Arab countries, the United Nations and the European Union expressed their condolences for the bereaved.
Palestinian officials said the nearly 15-year blockade of Gaza has crippled the economy and undermined efforts to upgrade the civil Emergency Department’s capacity in the enclave to fight fires, especially in high-rise buildings.
Citing security concerns with Hamas rulers in Gaza, both Israel and Egypt maintain restrictions along their borders with coastal areas.
[ad_2]
