Palestinian dies as thousands storm Gaza crossing

GAZA, Mar 8 (Reuters) Thousands of Palestinians tried to force their way through Gaza's Rafah border crossing with Egypt today in a melee in which one man suffered a fatal heart attack and five people were wounded by gunfire, medics said.

The crossing, Gaza's only link to the outside world that does not pass through Israel, is often closed by Israeli authorities who control access of European monitors to the site. The monitors suspended operations in response to the chaos.

Flocking to a rare opening of the frontier, some 6,000 people turned up at the Gaza side of the crossing, creating a crush at the terminal that Palestinian security forces could not control.

Some travellers said tempers flared after Palestinian policemen brought their friends and relatives to the head of the line ahead of people who had been waiting for hours.

Police denied the allegations.

Omar Qazaa, a 61-year-old Palestinian who had been waiting at the crossing since yesterday night, suffered a heart attack as the crowd surged forward. Medical workers said he died later in hospital.

As travellers continued to push towards the border, a gunfight erupted between President Mahmoud Abbas's presidential guard and Palestinian policemen. Witnesses said at least five people, including two of Abbas's guards, were wounded.

Israel has largely kept the Rafah crossing closed since Palestinian militants operating from Gaza tunnelled into southern Israel in June and abducted a soldier, who is still being held.

REUTERS AKJ RAI1924