Israeli emergency services responding to a synagogue bleacher collapse described as a ‘mass casualty event’
Israeli emergency services are responding to what they have described as a “mass casualty event” after bleachers collapsed at an Orthodox synagogue in the West Bank settlement of Giv’at Ze’ev northwest of Jerusalem.
At least two people have been confirmed dead, the head of police for Jerusalem district told Israeli television reporters.
Video broadcast on Israeli television shows dozens of worshippers falling to the ground when the crowded bleachers collapsed.
A “considerable number of worshippers were injured,” according to police. A firefighter on the scene told Israel Channel 13 that worshippers appeared to be trapped under the bleachers.
More than 100 have been injured, according to Israeli emergency medical services.
The bleacher collapse comes just over two weeks after 45 people were killed in a stampede at a religious festival at Israel’s Mount Meron, where worshipers had gathered to mark the Lag B’Omer holiday.
