Gaza City - A Palestinian man was killed and four were injured when two underground smuggling tunnels collapsed in the southern Gaza Strip border town of Rafah, Palestinian security sources said on Saturday.

Walid al-Shurbaji, 24, was brought dead to hospital with four smugglers who sustained various injuries, mostly suffocation, the sources added.

More than 50 people have been killed in similar incidents this year and as a result of Egyptian security forces' efforts to combat smuggling.

Local watchdog groups estimate that up to 600 tunnels are active and hundreds other are still under construction to circumvent a blockade Israel imposed on Gaza when the radical Hamas movement took control of the territory last year.

Fuel, clothes, food, electrical appliances and raw materials are the most common products that enter Gaza through the tunnels. (dpa)