Gaza – Ma’an – A worker died on Tuesday after he and six others fell from the mouth of a Gaza smuggling tunnel into its depths on Tuesday, officials said.

Officials said Sa'di Abu Nasser, 44, died in Abu Yousef An-Najjar Hospital, hours after he was pulled out of the tunnel in the city of Rafah.

Muawiyah Hassanein the director of Emergency and Ambulance services in the Health Ministry in Gaza said the men fell when the rope holding them up snapped.

Hassanein also said paramedics took four of the workers to Abu Yousef An-Najjar Hospital. One had fractured his neck, another fractured his skull and spine, and a third was in a coma, he added. The fourth, Abu Nasser, eventually died.

Three other injured workers were taken to the European Hospital in nearby Khan Younis, Hassanein said.

Three of the men were rescued immediately, Hassanein said, while another four were trapped in the tunnel initially before paramedics could retrieve them.

Egyptian security keeps goods out

On Monday Egyptian security forces seized a shipment of civilian goods intended to be smuggled into Gaza Strip a security official said.

The source said Egyptian forces acted on a tip and raided a warehouse in an olive grove across from the Brazil Neighborhood in Palestinian Rafah.

The official said four trucks loaded with goods were seized. A tunnel was also discovered near the reported warehouse. The alleged smugglers fled the scene before they could be arrested, the source added.