Worker seriously injured when lighting rig falls on him at Eurovision venue
66-year-old man undergoes urgent neurological surgery after incident at Expo Tel Aviv fairgrounds, day before the first semifinal of the song contest
A 66-year-old Israeli was seriously injured on Monday when a lighting rig fell on him while he was unloading a truck at the Expo Tel Aviv fairgrounds, where the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest is due to take place this week.
The man, from the central town of Pardes Hanna, was taken to Tel Aviv’s Ichilov Hospital, where he underwent emergency neurological surgery.
Police and Labor Ministry representatives arrived on the scene to investigate the incident.
An initial investigation revealed that the lighting rig had not been properly dismantled, the Ynet news site reported.
The song contest will begin with semifinal rounds on Tuesday and Thursday, followed by the finals on Saturday evening.
Seventy people were killed in work-related accidents in 2018, compared to 52 who lost their lives in 2017, say activists who run the Hebrew Facebook page “Battling against work accident deaths.”
In 2012 Lt. Hila Betzaleli, a 20-year-old IDF officer from Mevasseret Zion, was crushed to death when a lighting rig crashed down on her and other soldiers as they rehearsed for the official state Independence Day ceremony in the central parade ground on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem. Seven other soldiers were injured in the incident.
The Times of Israel Community.