Two dead, one trapped, at least 20 injured in collapse of Tel Aviv construction site

JERUSALEM (JTA) — At least two construction workers are dead and one remains trapped underground after the collapse of a construction site in Tel Aviv.

Some 18 Israeli and Palestinian workers were rescued in the hour after the collapse of the construction site, a tiered parking structure, late Monday morning in northern Tel Aviv. Three workers also trapped underground were rescued after firefighters dug through rubble and sand to reach them, according to reports.

One of the workers was seriously injured.

A Tel Aviv Police spokesman said that there is danger that the building will collapse further. The collapse was initially blamed on the collapse of a crane onsite; structural failure is now being cited as the cause.

The Israel Defense Forces sent a search and rescue unit and a K-9 unit to the scene to help locate the two missing workers, and anyone else who may be trapped in the rubble, according to reports.

The parking garage, for which construction began in November 2014 and was to be completed at the beginning of next year, was slated to have four levels.