19-year-old stabbed to death outside nightclub

A 19-year-old man was killed overnight Sunday in a scuffle between youths outside a Ra’anana nightclub.

The victim was later named as Iftach Grady from the Tel Aviv suburb of Givatayim.

According to an eyewitness who spoke to Ynet, the fight began inside the nightclub in the central Israeli city, but the victim was fatally stabbed outside the venue.

“The fight began inside, there were a lot of shouts and the tones were very high,” a man quoted as Yitzhak told the news site. “After a few minutes they went outside and then we heard the screams and understood that apparently there had been a stabbing.”

The victim suffered multiple stab wounds to the chest and was rushed to the Meir hospital in Kfar Saba in critical condition. He was pronounced dead a short while later.

The assailant in the stabbing fled the scene, and police launched a manhunt in an attempt to find the suspect. Ynet later reported that the police took 20 people in for questioning and arrested several others.

A police officer told Walla news that investigators suspected the culprit and victim may have been under the influence of alcohol at the time of the incident.

Another eyewitness told Ynet that fights were common at that Ra’anana club, “but it never gets to a point like this. This is a quiet dance bar, people enjoy it here a lot, and we still can’t digest what happened here.”