Gaza Tent Fire Kills Two Infants, Aged 2, 7 Months
(MENAFN) Habiba was due for her two-month vaccinations Saturday. Instead, her family buried her beside seven-month-old Aseel, after a fire swept through a tent in southern Gaza where relatives had gathered.
The blaze erupted Friday afternoon in al-Mawasi, west of Khan Younis, during a family visit. Both infants suffered severe burns and were rushed to intensive care, where they died Saturday morning.
Nasser Medical Complex identified the girls as Habiba Mohammed Zanoun, two months old, and Aseel Abu Suhayban, seven months old.
Sources told a news agency the fire began as food was being cooked inside the tent. They said acute shortages of cooking gas and basic supplies under Israel’s blockade have forced displaced families to prepare meals over open flames.
The girls’ grandmother, who did not give her name, told the agency her daughter had come to the tent to visit when the flames suddenly erupted. Habiba was her daughter’s baby, and she died on the day she was meant to receive her two-month vaccinations, the grandmother said.
Aseel’s mother ran to save her daughter and was burned herself. She was taken to hospital. According to the grandmother, neither infant could survive the severity of her injuries.
“Why is all this happening to us?” she asked. “Every day there are accidents, bombings and fires, and people are dying in so many ways.”
“For three years, we have been living like this, amid displacement, anguish and pain.”
It was one of three fires reported Friday in displacement tents across central and southern Gaza, according to sources. With cooking gas scarce, families are building makeshift fires to prepare meals, and in crowded shelters made of flammable materials, that everyday necessity can become deadly.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warned in June that cooking inside displacement tents was a leading cause of fires. It said blankets, old fabric, cardboard and plastic sheeting used to reinforce shelters help flames spread quickly and make fires harder to contain.
Fire is among several threats facing families in deteriorating tents that offer scant protection from the weather. OCHA also reported that Israeli authorities blocked a previously approved shipment, carrying 36,960 pieces of timber and 660 emergency shelter kits, from entering through the Egyptian corridor on Aug. 26 and Sept. 2.
The Gaza Government Media Office previously reported that more than 800,000 displaced Palestinians are living in tents unfit for human habitation. It estimated that 162,000 of Gaza’s 270,000 displacement tents need immediate replacement.
Mourning two grandchildren, the grandmother appealed to the world to turn its attention to Gaza’s displaced families and help end their suffering.
The blaze erupted Friday afternoon in al-Mawasi, west of Khan Younis, during a family visit. Both infants suffered severe burns and were rushed to intensive care, where they died Saturday morning.
Nasser Medical Complex identified the girls as Habiba Mohammed Zanoun, two months old, and Aseel Abu Suhayban, seven months old.
Sources told a news agency the fire began as food was being cooked inside the tent. They said acute shortages of cooking gas and basic supplies under Israel’s blockade have forced displaced families to prepare meals over open flames.
The girls’ grandmother, who did not give her name, told the agency her daughter had come to the tent to visit when the flames suddenly erupted. Habiba was her daughter’s baby, and she died on the day she was meant to receive her two-month vaccinations, the grandmother said.
Aseel’s mother ran to save her daughter and was burned herself. She was taken to hospital. According to the grandmother, neither infant could survive the severity of her injuries.
“Why is all this happening to us?” she asked. “Every day there are accidents, bombings and fires, and people are dying in so many ways.”
“For three years, we have been living like this, amid displacement, anguish and pain.”
It was one of three fires reported Friday in displacement tents across central and southern Gaza, according to sources. With cooking gas scarce, families are building makeshift fires to prepare meals, and in crowded shelters made of flammable materials, that everyday necessity can become deadly.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warned in June that cooking inside displacement tents was a leading cause of fires. It said blankets, old fabric, cardboard and plastic sheeting used to reinforce shelters help flames spread quickly and make fires harder to contain.
Fire is among several threats facing families in deteriorating tents that offer scant protection from the weather. OCHA also reported that Israeli authorities blocked a previously approved shipment, carrying 36,960 pieces of timber and 660 emergency shelter kits, from entering through the Egyptian corridor on Aug. 26 and Sept. 2.
The Gaza Government Media Office previously reported that more than 800,000 displaced Palestinians are living in tents unfit for human habitation. It estimated that 162,000 of Gaza’s 270,000 displacement tents need immediate replacement.
Mourning two grandchildren, the grandmother appealed to the world to turn its attention to Gaza’s displaced families and help end their suffering.
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