JERUSALEM – A three-story wedding hall collapsed with hundreds of people inside Thursday, killing at least 25, injuring more than 350 others and leaving dozens trapped in the rubble. Police said it appeared to be an accident, not a terrorist attack.
Rescuers worked feverishly early Friday to free those trapped as dozens of people were rushed to hospitals.
About 700 people were dancing at a reception at the Versailles wedding hall when the building collapsed, witnesses said.
“People were flying through the air, the orchestra, the loudspeakers, everything fell,” said Efraim Rino, his voice choking as he told Israel television that some of the victims were his relatives.
Jerusalem police commander Miki Levy said the collapse was “absolutely not” a terrorist attack but was due to a “structural failure.” There were no reports of an explosion.
Mr. Levy said that 247 people had been taken to Jerusalem hospitals and that several were killed.
The rescue effort included a special Israeli army rescue unit that has been sent abroad in the past to dig out earthquake victims working at the scene.
Israel radio reported that a convoy of ambulances was heading to Jerusalem from other parts of the country and broadcast appeals to Jerusalem hospital employees to report to their workplaces immediately. There were also appeals for blood donations.
The wedding was taking place on the top floor of the building, and the other two floors were not being used, Mr. Levy said.
The center of the top floor collapsed suddenly, witnesses said. The concrete structure crashed through the floors below, leaving a gaping, three-story hole with metal reinforcement cables hanging at twisted angles from the sides.
Sara Pinhas, a relative of the groom, said dancers had lifted the father of the bride on a chair when suddenly he fell, “and then we felt the whole building collapse.”
“Everything fell down,” she said. “We managed to climb down the side of the building.”
After the collapse, the front of the hall was eerily intact, with the name of the wedding hall still illuminated in large blue letters.
Victims pulled from the rubble were lined up on stretchers awaiting ambulances to take them to hospitals. Many appeared unconscious, and most were bleeding.
Relatives, some covered with blood, gathered in front of Jerusalem hospitals, desperately seeking reports on their injured loved ones.
Doctors said there were many children among the injured, including a 3-month-old.
The bride was taken to Bikur Holim hospital in downtown Jerusalem, where a doctor said she was apparently not seriously injured. The groom also was not seriously injured.
Jerusalem police have been on alert for bomb attacks by extremist Palestinians during eight months of Israeli-Palestinian violence.
