Jerusalem Tragedy: Balcony Collapses Onto Business, One Person Killed at the Scene

An approximately 80-year-old man was killed Monday toward evening after a balcony collapsed onto a business in Jerusalem’s Rehavia neighborhood. MDA spokespersons said that "At 5:25 p.m., a report was received at MDA’s 101 dispatch center in the Jerusalem region about a balcony that had collapsed onto a business on Keren Kayemet LeIsrael Street. MDA EMTs and paramedics reported an unconscious man trapped at the scene. Additional MDA teams provided medical treatment to 3 people who were lightly injured." Later, the severely injured victim was extricated from the rubble of the business, and he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Fire and rescue forces, police, and personnel from the municipality’s engineering department were called to the scene. The incident involved a three-story residential building, with a balcony on the second floor collapsing onto a restaurant located on the first floor. The collapse caused extensive damage to the structure and to the restaurant.

​At the start of the incident, two people were rescued from the rubble by civilians who were at the scene. Firefighters worked to rescue one additional person as well as the fatality. MDA EMTs Eli Eisenbach, Daniel Elikim, and Meir Gershoni said: "We received a report about a balcony that had collapsed onto a business. We arrived with large forces and saw several frightened injured people who came out to us, along with a man trapped among the rubble in critical condition. While firefighters carried out the rescue operations, we began providing medical treatment to an approximately 80-year-old woman and two teenagers, ages 16 and 17, who were in light condition with abrasions on their bodies, and they were evacuated to the hospital."

Jerusalem Municipality spokespersons said: "Following the balcony collapse on KKL Street, a dangerous structures team was dispatched to the scene, along with the city engineer, who also arrived at the location. The professional teams are working at the scene alongside emergency and rescue forces to assess the building’s stability, identify risks, and provide instructions for what comes next. Once the inspections are completed, the municipality will act in accordance with the findings and the recommendations of the professional authorities."