One dead, thousands evacuated in Gaza sewage flood

At least one woman died and many more were missing after sewage and mud flooded a northern Gaza Strip village Tuesday, officials said.

The village, Umm Naser, population 3,000, was flooded when the wall of a sewage pool collapsed, medical officials said.

A 70-year-old woman died in the sudden flood, and another eight people were injured, including two children, rescue crews said. At least 25 houses were completely immersed in the sewage, and residents said more than 200 people were missing.

The cause of the collapse was not immediately clear.

Rescue crews and gunmen from the militant Muslim group Hamas rushed to the area to search for people feared buried under the slide of sewage and mud. Most of the village's residents fled or were evacuated, reports AP.

Ziad Abu Farya, head of the village council, described the scene as "our tsunami."

Umm Naser is around 800 meters away from the border between Gaza and Israel.