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Humanitarian aid supplies are being dropped by US planes over the northern Gaza Strip
Photo: Mohammed Saber / EPA
There was a tragic accident on Friday during air deliveries of aid to the people of the Gaza Strip.
Five people were killed by a load falling from the sky because the parachute did not open properly, as the Ministry of Health, which is controlled by the Islamist Hamas, confirmed at the request of a dpa employee on site.
Videos on social media showed how the large aid package fell to the ground practically unchecked;
In addition, people were injured.
In view of the catastrophic supply situation, especially in the north of the contested coastal strip, the USA and other nations have begun dropping aid supplies of food on parachutes.
A spokesman for the US Department of Defense said in Washington on Friday that press reports that the US military's airdrops had resulted in civilian casualties on the ground were false.
"We have confirmed that all of our aid packages landed safely on the ground," he emphasized.
Jordan also distanced itself from the incident on Friday.
The state news agency reported, citing unnamed sources, that the technical error did not occur on any of the Jordanian aircraft involved.
The USA only began supplying the civilian population by air last weekend.
According to the Pentagon, on Friday US forces brought food into the Gaza Strip this way for the fourth time.
American Air Force transport planes dropped 11,500 meals over the crisis area, the spokesman said.
In total, the USA has so far provided more than 124,000 meals from the air.
lph/dpa