Four die as river of sewage devastates town

AN earth embankment around a cesspool collapsed yesterday, spewing a river of sewage and mud that killed four people and forced residents to flee from the village of Umm Naser in the Gaza Strip, officials said.

A local official blamed shoddy infrastructure in the town of 3,000 residents.

A 70-year-old woman, two small children and a teenager died and 25 people were injured, said Dr Muawiya Hassanin of the Palestinian Health Ministry. Many of the village’s houses were submerged or seriously damaged.

Fadel Kawash, head of the Palestinian Water Authority, said the level of sewage in the pool had increased over the past few days, creeping up the earth embankments until one collapsed. Ziad Abu Farya, head of the village council, described the scene as “our tsunami”.

Rescue crews and gunmen from militant group Hamas rushed to the area to search for people feared buried under the sewage and mud. Most residents fled or were evacuated.

Angry residents drove reporters out of the area and mobbed government officials who arrived at the scene. When Interior Minister Hani Kawasmeh arrived to survey the damage, his bodyguards fired in the air to disperse the crowd.

“We lost everything. Everything was covered by the flood. It’s a disaster,” said Amina Afif, 65, whose small shack was destroyed.