Cth
03-27-2007, 08:58 AM
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070327/wl_mideast_afp/palestinianaccident
UMM AL NASR, Gaza Strip (AFP) - At least four Palestinians drowned in a "sewage tsunami" on Tuesday when a water treatment reservoir burst, flooding a village in the northern Gaza Strip.
The deluge, triggered by the collapse of a septic system aid organisations had long warned was dangerously overburdened, submerged dozens of homes in the Bedouin farming village of Umm al-Nasr beneath a cesspool of foul-smelling effluent.
Two women, one more than 70 years old, and two toddlers aged one and two died in the flood. At least 15 people were injured and scores more are still missing, according to Palestinian medics.
Village children clung to wooden doors floating on the putrid waters and rescuers paddled through the village in makeshift boats in search of victims. Frantic goats and cows were also pulled to safety.
Village mayor Ziad Abu Thabet said 70 percent of the village's mostly ramshackle homes had been buried in raw sewage.
"The situation is very bad," the mayor said.
By late afternoon, receding flood waters had left a stinking scum that further hampered rescue efforts.
Palestinian television proclaimed a "sewage tsunami" had rocked Gaza. An advisor to president Mahmud Abbas declared the village a disaster area.
Newly appointed interior minister Hani al-Qawasmeh rushed to the scene to inspect the damage, but angry villagers chased him off. They opened fire on his convoy and wounded two policemen, witnesses said.
In Israel, Defence Minister Amir Peretz ordered the army to provide assistance to the victims if asked to do so by the Palestinian Authority.
The Hamas movement, the leading partner in a newly formed Palestinian unity government, blamed the disaster on a foreign aid boycott slapped on the Palestinian Authority a year ago when the Islamist hardliners first came to power. Israel and the West consider Hamas a terrorist outfit.
"The overflowing of the basin is one of the results of the suspension of international aid to our people, which is preventing the government from improving and developing infrastructure," Hamas said in a statement.
As far back as January 2004, UN aid agencies in the Gaza Strip had warned that the north Gaza sewage treatment facility was operating far beyond its capacity and posed a grave danger to nearby residents.
Designed to serve just 50,000 people, the plant at that time was handling waste from 190,000 Gaza residents.
Excess sewage had already flooded around 110 acres, and 50 percent of children in Umm Al-Nasr had developed problems with their digestive systems, a UN report found.
"Unless action is taken to address this problem, water in this effluent lake will spill out over the holding basins into residential areas, and directly into homes," the report concluded.
UMM AL NASR, Gaza Strip (AFP) - At least four Palestinians drowned in a "sewage tsunami" on Tuesday when a water treatment reservoir burst, flooding a village in the northern Gaza Strip.
The deluge, triggered by the collapse of a septic system aid organisations had long warned was dangerously overburdened, submerged dozens of homes in the Bedouin farming village of Umm al-Nasr beneath a cesspool of foul-smelling effluent.
Two women, one more than 70 years old, and two toddlers aged one and two died in the flood. At least 15 people were injured and scores more are still missing, according to Palestinian medics.
Village children clung to wooden doors floating on the putrid waters and rescuers paddled through the village in makeshift boats in search of victims. Frantic goats and cows were also pulled to safety.
Village mayor Ziad Abu Thabet said 70 percent of the village's mostly ramshackle homes had been buried in raw sewage.
"The situation is very bad," the mayor said.
By late afternoon, receding flood waters had left a stinking scum that further hampered rescue efforts.
Palestinian television proclaimed a "sewage tsunami" had rocked Gaza. An advisor to president Mahmud Abbas declared the village a disaster area.
Newly appointed interior minister Hani al-Qawasmeh rushed to the scene to inspect the damage, but angry villagers chased him off. They opened fire on his convoy and wounded two policemen, witnesses said.
In Israel, Defence Minister Amir Peretz ordered the army to provide assistance to the victims if asked to do so by the Palestinian Authority.
The Hamas movement, the leading partner in a newly formed Palestinian unity government, blamed the disaster on a foreign aid boycott slapped on the Palestinian Authority a year ago when the Islamist hardliners first came to power. Israel and the West consider Hamas a terrorist outfit.
"The overflowing of the basin is one of the results of the suspension of international aid to our people, which is preventing the government from improving and developing infrastructure," Hamas said in a statement.
As far back as January 2004, UN aid agencies in the Gaza Strip had warned that the north Gaza sewage treatment facility was operating far beyond its capacity and posed a grave danger to nearby residents.
Designed to serve just 50,000 people, the plant at that time was handling waste from 190,000 Gaza residents.
Excess sewage had already flooded around 110 acres, and 50 percent of children in Umm Al-Nasr had developed problems with their digestive systems, a UN report found.
"Unless action is taken to address this problem, water in this effluent lake will spill out over the holding basins into residential areas, and directly into homes," the report concluded.