Toddler crushed to death by metal railing near Ness Ziona park

A 3-year-old girl was killed Thursday by a metal barrier that fell on her in the town of Ness Ziona in central Israel.

The Magen David Adom ambulance service said the girl sustained a serious head wound and was rushed by medics to Assaf Harofeh Medical Center, where she was declared dead.

Police were looking into the circumstances of the incident.

Metal railings of the type that collapsed on the girl are standard across Israel, where they are used to protect sidewalks from street traffic at intersections and near parks or schools.

Unnamed neighbors told Hebrew media outlets that the barrier was removed by municipal workers so their vehicles could access a park, but was not secured back in place for unclear reasons, and instead left upright.

“If they don’t put [the fence] back, at least lay it on the ground. That way it wouldn’t have fallen and a disaster would have been averted,” one of the neighbors was quoted saying by the Ynet news site.

The Ness Ziona Municipality said an initial probe determined the fencing was moved two days ago, and promised to fully cooperate with a police investigation.