Parachute fails to open during Gaza aid airdrop: five civilians killed, 10 injured

A witness told AFP he and his brother followed the parachuted aid in the hope of getting 'a bag of flour', all of a sudden, the parachute didn't open and fell down like a rocket, hitting a house.

An aircraft airdrops humanitarian aid over Gaza the northern Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, Friday, March 8, 2024. AP Photo

PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES: The dire conditions more than five months into the war have led some countries to airdrop food and other assistance over the besieged Gaza Strip, but a parachute malfunction turned the latest operation lethal on Friday.

Five Palestinians were killed and 10 wounded north of the coastal Al-Shati refugee camp, said Mohammed al-Sheikh, emergency room head nurse at Gaza City's Al-Shifa hospital.

A witness told AFP he and his brother followed the parachuted aid in the hope of getting "a bag of flour".

"Then, all of a sudden, the parachute didn't open and fell down like a rocket," hitting a house, said Mohammed al-Ghoul.

Jordanian and US military officials denied that aircraft from either country caused the fatalities.

"We express sympathies to the families of those who were killed," the US Central Command said in a statement.

"Contrary to some reports, this was not the result of U.S. airdrops."

Belgium, Egypt, France and the Netherlands were also involved in the airdrop.