At least 21 people were killed as massive fire erupted at a multi-story residential building in the besieged Gaza Strip on the intervening night of Thursday-Friday, the Palestinian enclave’s Interior Ministry said.
The blaze erupted in the crowded Jabalia refugee camp and spread fast due to a large amount of gasoline being stored there, said the ministry, which didn’t clarify how the fire started.
“Preliminary investigations suggest that the presence of large amount of benzene inside the house contributed to the massive escalation of the fire and the occurrence of this number of deaths,” said Iyad al-Bazim, Gaza’s Interior Ministry spokesman.
Due to the persistent blockade and energy crisis in Gaza, many people store gasoline and cooking gas in their homes.
The region has been under an Israeli-Egyptian blockade since 2007 after Palestinian resistance group, Hamas was elected to power.
Hamas’s leader, Ismail Haniyeh, blamed the fire on the blockade, saying Israel bans rescue teams in Gaza from having the advanced equipment needed to deal with such a big fire.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas declared Friday a day of mourning.
Meanwhile, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said in a tweet late Thursday that Israel had offered to assist by evacuating injured Gazans to hospitals in Israel.