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Workers trapped under rubble in Tel Aviv

September 5, 2016

Israeli rescuers raced to save several construction workers after an underground parking garage collapsed in Tel Aviv, killing at least two. The massive rescue effort could last for days, officials said.

https://p.dw.com/p/1JwAX
Israel Tel Aviv Einsurz einer Tiegarage
Image: Reuters/N. Elias

The multilevel car park was still under construction when it collapsed on Monday, leaving a crater-like hole in the ground, officials and witnesses said.

At least two people were killed, including one foreign worker from Ukraine. Emergency services also said some 25 people were injured and at least five were still trapped.

Medic Avi Marcus said the rescuers found the victims "about four to five stories down under the surface."

"It was only construction workers. I provided medical care to some of the injured people." he told the AFP news agency. "They say some movement shook the building."

A construction worker said he was underground in the garage when he began to feel vibrations.

"All of a sudden everything collapsed," survivor Micha Lavine, identified by media as a project manager at the site, said at the hospital.

"It was scary," he told Israeli Channel 10 TV. "You feel like everything is going to collapse, and you are going with it."

Rescuers 'very worried'

Police and firefighters were searching for survivors, aided with over 300 soldiers from the Israeli search-and-rescue battalion and sniffer dogs.

Israel Tel Aviv Einsurz einer Tiegarage
The building was nearly finished at the moment of the collapseImage: Reuters/N. Elias

"It is a very tough arena for rescue, it is really life threatening," Eli Bin, the head of Israel's rescue service MDA told Israeli media. "We are very worried if we will succeed in reaching those same people whose voices we can definitely hear."

Army Colonel Golan Cach also said the scene was "very complicated" and the rescue could continue for several days.

The officials were still investigating the cause of the incident.

Earlier this year, Israel released a study on construction deaths, showing the country's poor safety record compared to the rest of the developed world. Some 480 workers were killed between 2000 and 2015 in Israel, statistics show.

Commenting on the Monday collapse on Israeli state television, lawmaker Eyal Ben-Reuven said that "such catastrophes wouldn't happen if people followed safety regulations." The authorities carried out too few inspections, he added.

dj/rc (AP, AFP, dpa)