2 Dead, 17 Wounded In Tel Aviv Parking Garage Collapse

An underground parking garage under construction in Tel Aviv collapsed Monday morning, leaving two dead and some 17 people injured. One of the dead was a 35-year-old man, according to Channel 10 Television.

The incident occurred in the Ramat Hahayal neighborhood in northern Tel Aviv, an area with a large number of hi-tech firms.

MDA emergency responders said one person was seriously injured in the collapse. Witnesses say he appeared to be in his mid-20s and was a worker at the site.

He suffered serious injuries to head and limbs.

A second victim is moderate condition, with an additional 15 people lightly wounded.

Of the 17 victims treated at the scene, 4 were buried under the rubble and later rescued.

A foreman at the construction site reported that seven workers were still unaccounted for and may be buried under the rubble.

“There are people buried,” said Fire and Rescue spokesman Yoram Levy. “We’ve rushed in all available teams; more than 60 [fire] fighters have arrived on the scene,” he said.

Moshe Levy, a volunteer emergency first-responder with United Hatzalah reported from the scene: “When I arrived I found numerous hurt individuals who were conscious and who extricated themselves from the area of the collapse under their own power.”

“It appeared to me that the roof of a parking garage had collapsed in the building site.

While members of our ambu-cycle unit who arrived first on scene were treating the injured, reports came in of other people who were unaccounted for and likely still trapped inside.

Firefighters and rescue teams are working to extricate them. At this time the wounded we are treating are suffering from minor injuries and are all fully conscious.”

Police say the underground parking garage had four floors, three of which collapsed. Rescue teams have thus far been unable to reach the lowest floor.