Third body pulled from rubble of collapsed Tel Aviv garage
Rescue personnel continue search for construction workers missing under the debris of the 4-story parking structure
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleRaoul Wootliff is a former Times of Israel political correspondent and Daily Briefing podcast producer.
A third body was retrieved from the rubble of a collapsed underground parking garage in the Ramat Hahayal neighborhood of Tel Aviv Tuesday morning, as emergency response personnel continued to search for construction workers believed to be trapped in the rubble.
The 30-year-old man showed no signs of life when search and rescue teams finally found him, nearly 24 hours after the four-story structure collapsed. Magen David Adom paramedics declared him dead at the scene, a spokesperson for the ambulance service said.
Four construction workers were unaccounted for Tuesday morning. They were identified as two Israelis from the northern city of Acre and two Palestinians.
Rescue workers appear to have located another trapped man, but say they do not believe he is alive, police said in a statement.
.@Mdais video from the scene of the rescue efforts from the garage collapse in Tel Aviv pic.twitter.com/CqVYSUbr8i
— Judah Ari Gross (@JudahAriGross) September 6, 2016
At least 20 people were injured when the structure collapsed Monday morning. One fatality was identified as a 28-year-old Ukrainian national.
Five people had been pulled alive from the wreckage by Monday evening, in what the army termed a “vigorous” search and rescue effort. Four hundred soldiers from the IDF’s Home Front Command were still working at the site Tuesday, an IDF spokesperson said.
Having visited the site Monday night, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanayahu vowed Tuesday morning to put all possible resources into finding the missing construction workers. “There are still people trapped; we are making every effort and are not giving up on anyone. We will reach them all,” he said upon leaving Israel for a two-day diplomatic trip to the Netherlands. IDF Chief of General Staff Gadi Eisenkot visited the site later in the morning.
Described by rescue services as the “golden day,” the 24 hours following a building collapse are considered the most critical if there is a chance of retrieving anyone trapped alive. Dudi Mizrahi, the head of Home Front Command’s Search and Rescue Unit, said that the work could go on for days, but that “the chances of finding anyone alive” would obviously fade as the hours went by.
There had been some contact with those trapped during the day on Monday, but not since the late afternoon, according to authorities.
The sister of Roslan Iskov, one of the construction workers from Acre, said she was still hopeful that her brother would be found alive. “We are still praying for him,” she told Channel 2 news.
The moment of the garage’s collapse was captured on a security camera, showing the ground suddenly give way and a cloud of dust rising up.
Investigators have placed a gag order on details of a probe into what caused the collapse, but workers described feeling shaking in the structure in the hours before it happened.
The victims were taken to several nearby hospitals, including Ichilov, Beilinson, Tel Hashomer and Asuta, the latter of which is located right next to the scene.
The hospitals opened an emergency hotline (dial 1255133 from any Israeli phone line) for families seeking to check if their relatives are among the injured.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
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