Construction worker killed in plummeting elevator

A construction worker was killed Tuesday morning when an elevator in which he was riding collapsed at a construction site in Ashdod.

Paramedics who arrived at the scene found the man, 30, with no vital signs and declared him dead.

A Magen David Adom medic said that the worker was trapped inside the elevator and suffered multiple injuries. Emergency and rescue services were able to free him but could not save his life, the medic said.

The death brought the number of construction workers killed in 2019 to 46.

Two construction workers were killed in separate accidents last Thursday.

Deaths of construction workers in Israel are a frequent occurrence, largely because of poorly enforced safety codes, according to critics.

In June, figures released under Freedom of Information laws showed that police had opened criminal investigations in only 25 percent of job site accidents that led to deaths or severe injuries of workers in 2016-2018.

Responding to the rise in worksite accidents in recent years, police established a special unit called Peles at the end of 2018 — under the aegis of its serious crimes unit Lahav 433 — that specializes in accident investigation.

However, the Haaretz daily reported in June, the unit had only opened investigations into three of the 38 deadly work accidents that occurred in the first five months of 2019.