Four laborers hurt, one seriously, in roof collapse

Four laborers were injured, one of them seriously, when a roof at a building site in central Israel collapsed on Thursday.

Ambulance crews provided on-site first-aid treatment and took all four men to Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva.

The Magen David Adom emergency service said that a man aged 24 sustained moderate to serious injuries to his limbs. A 30-year-old was moderately injured and two — also reportedly in their 30s — were lightly hurt.

Police said they were not aware of anyone trapped in the building but searches were continuing.

Emergency services asked the public to stay away from the site in the town of Ganei Tikva on Derech Hayam Street so as not to interfere with their work.

A witness working in the building opposite told Channel 2 News, “I heard a big noise and then spine-chilling screams. I saw a laborer under the collapsed ceiling, and all the workers trying to rescue him with sticks and poles. There were a few moments of silence and then all the ambulance and police sirens began.”

In September, six construction workers were killed when a four-story parking garage being built in the northern Tel Aviv neighborhood of Ramat Hahayal collapsed on itself.

Following the fatal accident, lawmakers renewed calls to improve safety standards on construction sites and set up a parliamentary inquiry into construction workers’ deaths.

The rate of worker deaths in Israel is among the highest in the West and double the European Union average, according to the findings of an Economy Ministry and National Insurance Institute report published in May.