Seven workers seriously injured after falling deep in Gaza tunnel

GAZA, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- Seven Palestinian smugglers were injured Tuesday after falling in an underground tunnel underneath Gaza's southern border with Egypt, Palestinian medial sources said.

Mo'aweya Hassanein, an emergency official, told reporters that a rope was cut and the reel had fallen on the workers while they were being pulled out through the 18-meter-long tunnel's shaft.

Hassanein also said that rescue crews managed to evacuate three with serious injuries, adding all the seven smugglers were in critical condition.

Tens of Palestinians were killed in natural cave-ins and Israeli air raids while working in the tunnels over the past couple of years. Egyptian security forces' campaign on contraband has also led to losses in Palestinian lives.

The tunnels are used to import a wide array of goods from baby diapers to electronics that were once missing in Gaza markets as a result of Israel's 2007 closure of the coastal enclave.