Three killed while repairing Gaza tunnel damaged by Egypt

Three Palestinians have died and five were injured after breathing toxic gas in an underground tunnel, used for smuggling goods beneath Gaza's border with Egypt.

Palestinian authorities in the Gaza strip say the three dead men and their injured colleagues were performing repair works on the tunnel, after the Egyptian military blew it up.

The three dead men were identified as Abdullah Waleed al Namooli, 23, Salama Suleiman Abu Shousha, 24, and Obeid Mohammad Soufi, 25, reported the International Middle East Media Centre.

The bodies of the men and their injured co-workers were taken to hospital in nearby Rafah.

Gaza remains under siege by Israel and Egypt since 2007, and the use of tunnels to get around the land, sea, and air blockade has persisted almost as long. As well as contraband and weapons the tunnels are used to bring food, and basic medical and building supplies, into the strip.

In 2013 the Egyptian military destroyed nearly all of the thousands of tunnels that had been built. In 2014 Israel launched a ground invasion intended to close down the tunnels, especially those used by Hamas to stage attacks.

A recent increase in smuggling has seen Egypt step up efforts to crack down on the remaining tunnels.

Last week, rescue workers found the body of a Palestinian in the remnants of tunnel that was flooded by the Egyptian army.

Hamas, the group in control of the Gaza strip, condemned the resumption of Egyptian tactics along the border as "unjustified", including flooding the tunnels or blowing them up.