Sewage 'tsunami' kills four in Gaza
"A spewing river of sewage and mud that erupted after an earth embankment around a cesspool collapsed has killed at least four people and forced residents to flee a village in the northern Gaza Strip.
Dozens of residents of Umm Naser were still unaccounted for after the sewage knocked down many makeshift homes, officials said.
Hani al-Qawasmi, the Palestinian interior minister, who rushed to the village to survey the damage, came under attack from angry armed men who fired shots over his head, local witnesses said.
Al-Qawasmi was driven to safety in a police car.
A local official blamed shoddy infrastructure in the village of 3,000 for the disaster.
Muawiya Hassanin of the Palestinian health ministry said a 70-year-old woman, four-year-old boy and a man had died in the sudden flood.
Submerged
Another 25 people were injured and at least 25 houses completely submerged.
Ziad Abu Farya, head of the village council, described the scene as "our tsunami".
Fadel Kawash, head of the Palestinian water authority, said that the level of sewage in the pool had increased over the past few days, creeping up the earth embankments around the pool until one collapsed, "causing the sewage to pour towards the village".
Angry residents drove reporters out of the area and mobbed government officials.
"We lost everything. Everything was covered by the flood. It's a disaster," said Amina Afif, 65, whose small shack was destroyed."
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"Interior Minister"....."Health Minister"....."Palestinian Authority"......
What a bunch of crap! The locals know that better than those dressed in three-piece suits and jetting around from capital to capital.
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