Two dead and about 200 injured in collapse of grandstand in center of Karlin yard

May 17, 2021   

Disaster in the new Beit Midrash: The boy Meir Glauberman, 13, and the late Rabbi Mordechai Binyamin Rubinstein, 23, from Betar Illit, were killed, and 184 Hasidim were injured, minutes before the holiday began (Sunday), after a tribune installed in the new Karlin-Stolin synagogue in the town of Givat Ze'ev north of Jerusalem collapsed during the Mincha prayer on the eve of Shavuot. What are your chances of winning a duplex? And why is your dream closer than ever? What do you say about white chocolate with cookie crumbs? And what about a tasty snack? The tribune that collapsed in the synagogue was set up for a Shavuot holiday. Hundreds of Hasidim were present at the time of the tribune's collapse. The investigation of the incident was assigned to the Tel Aviv District Fraud Unit, which began collecting materials. Large teams of rescue forces arrived at the scene within minutes and, after attempts at resuscitation, were forced to declare two dead - a man about 40 years old and a 13-year-old boy, who had just celebrated his Bar Mitzvah a little over a month ago. The rescue forces provided medical treatment and evacuated about 200 injured people to hospitals, of whom 5 were in serious condition and 10 in moderate condition. The hundreds of MDA medics and paramedics who were called to the scene arrived immediately and in reinforced forces with 26 intensive care units, 47 ambulances, 27 motorcycles, a jeep ambulance and 2 TARN vehicles - multi-casualty incident stations. Two MDA intensive care buses, two MDA helicopters, and three Air Force helicopters were dispatched to the scene. The injured from the disaster were evacuated to the following hospitals: 105 injured were evacuated to Shaare Zedek Hospital, of whom 2 were in serious condition, 6 in moderate condition, and 97 in light condition. 22 injured were evacuated to Hadassah Mount Scopus Hospital, of whom 1 was in moderate condition and 21 in light condition. 51 injured people were evacuated to Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital, of whom 3 were seriously injured, 3 were moderately injured and 45 were lightly injured. 4 were lightly injured people were evacuated to Shamir-Assaf Harofeh Hospital. 2 were lightly injured people were evacuated. Avi Shiff, an MDA paramedic who was one of the first to arrive at the scene, said: "When I arrived at the scene, I saw dozens of injured people with varying degrees of injury, lying on top of each other in the back of the collapsed grandstand, trapped under the rubble and metal fragments. During the initial examinations and medical triage, we rescued the injured people to the many ambulances and MDA mobile intensive care units that were dispatched to the scene. Hundreds of medics and paramedics provided medical treatment to the injured and evacuated them for further treatment in hospitals." Moshe Tobolsky, an MDA paramedic, spoke about the disaster: "When we arrived at the scene, there was a great commotion, people were shouting and saying that a tribune with dozens of people in the synagogue had collapsed. Several lightly injured people were near the entrance and civilians led me to a seriously injured person, who was unconscious and suffering from a head injury. While other large MDA teams were scanning the scene and providing medical treatment to other injured people, I put the injured person into an intensive care unit, gave him life-saving medical treatment that included anesthesia and ventilation - and he was taken to Shaare Zedek Hospital in serious condition." Isaac Katz, a United Hatzalah medic, said at the end of the holiday: "When I arrived at the scene along with dozens of other medics, we encountered a large number of casualties, some of whom had lost consciousness. Chasidic medics who were on site at the time of the collapse began evacuating the casualties in a United Hatzalah ambulance that was outside the synagogue as an ambulance set up for Shabbat and the holiday." Yossi Eisenstein, a United Hatzalah medic who was at the entrance to the synagogue when the disaster occurred, "I was near the United Hatzalah ambulance that I had in my possession for the holiday and suddenly many cries for help were heard. I immediately entered the scene with other medics and we began assisting and evacuating the casualties. At the same time, I asked the United Hatzalah headquarters to dispatch additional United Hatzalah ambulances to the scene, which evacuated over 60 casualties in various conditions from the scene." Haim Weingarten, head of the ZAKA Emergency Response Team, a resident of Givat Ze'ev, who was one of the first to arrive at the scene: "I live on the street parallel to the synagogue. I received the report of the ARN incident. I arrived at the scene within a minute and saw dozens of people inside the synagogue, most of them young people, lying under the stands that had collapsed from a height, begging for help as they lay on top of each other with serious injuries. "We began performing CPR on the spot on two injured people, a 13-year-old boy and a man in his 20s. Unfortunately, an MDA paramedic was forced to confirm the death of both of them at the scene." Eliezer Samet, a ZAKA volunteer who treated the scene: "Upon receiving the report of a large-scale incident, I quickly left for the scene. I ran on foot with equipment and stretchers to the scene of the incident. I treated more than 30 injured people who we rescued from the synagogue together with MDA paramedics and Home Front Command soldiers. The difficult scenes reminded me of The terrible scene of the treatment of the injured and killed in the Meron disaster a few weeks ago. It is very unfortunate that another event of joy ended in tragedy with 2 deaths that came to celebrate and returned to their families in ZAKA bags. Shaare Zedek Medical Center is hospitalized tonight - Monday - 33 injured from yesterday's collapse in Givat Zeev. 6 of the injured are in serious condition and the rest are in mild and moderate condition. At Shaare Zedek, 115 injured from the incident were treated by over 200 staff members from all departments of the hospital. During the night, 8 emergency and life-saving surgeries were performed. Hadassah Medical Center: Of the 120 injured who were evacuated to Hadassah hospitals from the incident in Givat Zeev, patients whose condition improved were released after the holiday. Hadassah Ein Kerem is still treating 42 injured, including 6 in serious condition, and Hadassah Mount Scopus remains with 9 injured in mild and moderate condition. Over the past 24 hours, many orthopedic surgeries have been performed on the injured at Hadassah Ein Kerem and Hadassah Mount Scopus, including 5 children. A 16-year-old boy underwent life-saving neurosurgery and is now on a ventilator and sedated in the intensive care unit. Givat Zeev Local Council's response to the disaster in the Karlin Hasidic community: From the moment news of the terrible disaster in the Karlin Hasidic community became known, under the guidance of Council Chairman Yossi Avrahami and his personal accompaniment of the case, the council has been busy providing support and assistance to the families of the injured and deceased. The psychological service and the welfare department, backed by volunteer residents, have been in close contact with the families and the entire community and have been accompanying them since last night. The security department assisted during the holiday in locating a missing boy who, after many hours, was located at Shaare Zedek Hospital. The claims and questions regarding the disaster are many and important, but we cannot answer them at this time since the matter is under examination and investigation. The Givat Zeev community is warm and close-knit, and the heavy disaster struck everyone with sadness and shock. Alongside the council, the residents of the settlement support and assist the grieving families and the entire community. On behalf of all the residents, we send our condolences to the families of the deceased and wish a speedy recovery to the injured.