GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Six people — including an Associated Press video journalist — were killed Wednesday when leftover ordnance thought to have been dropped in an Israeli airstrike blew up in the Gaza Strip.
Simone Camilli and his Palestinian translator, Ali Shehda Abu Afash, were covering the war between Israel and Islamic militants in Gaza. The blast occurred as Gaza police engineers were trying to defuse unexploded ordnance fired by Israel.
Four police engineers also were killed, police said. Three people, including AP photographer Hatem Moussa, were badly injured.
Moussa told a colleague that they were filming the scene when an initial explosion went off. He said he was hit by shrapnel and began to run when there was a second blast, which knocked him out. He woke up in a hospital and underwent surgery before he was transferred to a hospital in Israel for more advanced care.
Hamas police spokesman Ayman al-Batniji said there had clearly been a “mistake” and there would be an investigation. He said the Palestinians collect unexploded munitions but usually get help from international experts in disposing of them.
An official said an Israeli tank shell caused the first explosion, triggering the more powerful secondary blast that included several bombs, including unexploded missiles dropped in Israeli airstrikes.
Camilli became the first foreign journalist killed in the Gaza conflict, which has resulted in more than 1,900 Palestinian deaths and 67 on the Israeli side. The 35-year-old Italian national had worked for the AP since 2005, when he was hired in Rome.
