World News | Dozens Hurt in Bleacher Collapse at Israeli Synagogue

Jerusalem, May 16 (AP) Israeli medics say dozens of people have been injured in a bleacher collapse in a West Bank synagogue.

Television footage from the scene showed the building was incomplete, with exposed concrete and boards visible.

Amateur footage showed the collapse occurring during prayers Sunday evening in Givat Zeev, just outside Jerusalem, at the beginning of the Jewish holiday of Shavuot. The ultra-Orthodox synagogue was packed with hundreds of people.

The Magen David Adom rescue service said some 60 people were injured, including 10 in serious or critical condition.

The Israeli military said in a statement that it dispatched medics and other search and rescue troops to assist at the scene. Army helicopters were airlifting the injured.

The mayor of Givat Zeev said the building was improvised and dangerous, and that the police ignored calls to take action.

The accident comes weeks after a stampede at a religious festival in northern Israel that killed 45 ultra-Orthodox Jews.

The stampede triggered renewed criticism over the broad autonomy granted to the country's politically powerful ultra-Orthodox minority.

Last year, many ultra-Orthodox communities flouted coronavirus safety restrictions, contributing to high outbreak rates in their communities and angering the broader secular public. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)