2 dead, 150 injured after bleacher collapse at West Bank synagogue

Medics carry a victim on a stretcher.
(Image credit: Gil Cohen-Magen/AFP via Getty Images)

At least two people were killed and more than 150 injured on Sunday after a bleacher collapsed at an unfinished ultra-Orthodox synagogue in the West Bank, Israeli medics said.

The incident took place in the Givat Zeev settlement during evening prayers, ahead of the Shavuot holiday. Israeli medics said the dead are a 12-year-old boy and a man in his 50s.

Deddi Simhi, head of Israel Fire and Rescue, told Israel's Channel 12 the five-story synagogue "is not finished. It doesn't even have a permit for occupancy, and therefore let alone holding events in it." The chief of Jerusalem's police department said the collapse was caused by "negligence" and expects arrests will be made.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Last month, 45 ultra-Orthodox Jews were killed in a stampede during a religious celebration in northern Israel. The event brought tens of thousands of people to Mount Meron, an area that isn't able to contain such a large crowd.

Continue reading for free

We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.

Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.

Catherine Garcia

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.