The Health Ministry under Hamas control reported on Friday that a parachute malfunction during an airdrop of food aid in the Gaza Strip killed five people.

The package hit the ground at nearly full speed and crushed them. The deaths were verified by the ministry to a DPA staff member present.

Social media videos demonstrated how the sizable aid package fell almost entirely to the ground. There were also multiple injuries.

In order to alleviate a severe food shortage, especially in the northern part of the beleaguered coastal strip, the United States and other countries started releasing relief supplies by parachute on Saturday.