Two Palestinians died late Sunday after inhaling poisonous gas inside a tunnel along the border between Egypt and the Gaza Strip.

Iyad al-Bozom, spokesman for the Interior Ministry in Gaza, said that the police officer Raed al-Aker, 39,  died during a security mission to inspect a border tunnel south of the Gaza Strip and rescue the other victim Subhi Abu Qurshin, 28.

Al-Bozom said that the civil defense crews managed to pull the bodies out after hours of work. Two security officers were injured in the incident and transferred to hospital for treatment, he added.

Local sources reported that the Egyptian army on Sunday evening attacked a commercial tunnel in Rafah, the southern area of the Gaza Strip, with poison gas bombs. The same sources said that Gaza rescue teams are still looking for 9 Palestinians who were inside the tunnel when it was attacked.