Building partially collapses on Tel Aviv’s Nahalat Binyamin Street; no injuries

A three-story building in Tel Aviv partially collapsed on Wednesday, causing no injuries but prompting the evacuation of residents of nearby buildings.

The building, located on Nahalat Binyamin Street at the corner of the famed Rothschild Boulevard, was empty of residents, as it was undergoing renovations, the Magen David Adom emergency service said. The construction team was not on site when the collapse occurred.

Fire and Rescue Services were called to the scene to search the rubble and rule out the possibility of anyone being trapped under it, and the IDF said troops of the Home Front Command arrived to provide help as needed.

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Emergency services were working to stabilize the portion of the building that was still standing, to avoid any further collapse.

The Tel Aviv-Jaffa Municipality instructed the public to avoid the area around the building, and the Israel Police enforced road closures at the intersections of several streets surrounding Nahalat Binyamin.

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Footage of the collapse was captured on a camera across the street. In the video, a man can be seen jumping up from a bench in front of the building just as it begins to crash down. Some passersby start running as a dust cloud envelops the street, although others appear to remain standing at the intersection to watch.

According to Kan news, a preliminary investigation indicated that the collapse was the result of a technical failure during the renovation process. The report noted that there were concerns over the possibility of asbestos at the scene. The use of asbestos in construction has been banned in Israel since 2011, but the fire-resistant yet highly toxic material was widely used in construction between the 1950s and 1990s.

The owner of a nearby eatery told the Walla news outlet that he initially feared the incident was terrorism.

“We heard a very loud boom and thought it was a terror attack,” the man recounted. “We ran outside, and everything was filled with dust and smoke.”

He said the building was cleared of residents around three weeks ago to start widespread renovations, calling it a “miracle” that nobody was hurt.

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