At least 10 Palestinians were killed and 58 injured including 14 in critical condition on Thursday afternoon when a fire broke out at a crowded market in Nuseirat refugee camp in the middle area of the Gaza Strip.
Eyewitnesses said that a huge explosion came from a bakery and the blaze rapidly spread to nearby stores factories stalls and vehicles parked along the street.
Civil defense crews and ambulances rushed to the scene and crowds of Palestinian citizens helped firefighters put out the flames.
A number of victims who were seriously wounded in the fire will be transferred to hospitals in Egypt and the occupied West Bank for treatment Gaza’s Ministry of Health said.
Gaza’s Interior Ministry said that the initial investigations suggested that the fire resulted from a gas leak inside one of the bakeries that caused several cooking gas cylinders to explode.
Head of Hamas’s political bureau Ismail Haneyya extended condolences to the families of those killed in the fire and wished speedy recovery for the wounded.
Haneyya announced that Hamas would offer cash assistance estimated at $300000 for the injured and families of the dead.
Later Hamas released a statement saying that Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani of Qatar had allocated $2 million in compensation for the damage and losses the fire caused.