Two babies died, and at least 55 more small children sustained injuries in an incident at a daycare center in Jerusalem’s Romema neighborhood on Monday, Magen David Adom (MDA) reported.
Three-month-old Lia Tzipora Golovnetsitz and six-month-old Aharon Katz died in the incident. According to the Institute of Forensic Medicine at Abu Kabir, the cause of death was likely dehydration as a result of an overheated space.
The director of Hadassah-University Medical Center, Professor Yaniv Sherer, where many of the injured children were taken to for treatment and observation, told Maariv that the injuries and deaths probably resulted from "some kind of poisoning, with or without a combination of crowding, fever, or dehydration."
The Fire and Rescue Authority earlier said suspicion of hazardous substances had been ruled out, but that the possibility of carbon monoxide poisoning from heating equipment was under investigation, KAN News reported.
According to Sherer, blood tests from the children confirmed that carbon monoxide was not the cause of the incident.
“There was no gas leak,” an inspector from the Environmental Protection Ministry confirmed at the scene following suspicions of a leak being the cause of the incident.
Substandard childcare conditions
Upon arrival at the scene, authorities noted substandard conditions at the daycare center that may have contributed to the tragedy.
A video seen by The Jerusalem Post appeared to show a bathroom containing a mattress meant for a baby to sleep on placed underneath a toilet bowl. This was corroborated by an emergency response team member who saw a baby wrapped in a blanket lying on the bathroom floor.
“Regarding the conditions, children in closets is not common,” one of the rescue workers said. “The kindergarten is in a small four-room residence. There were a lot of kids inside relative to the size of the facility.”
“Overcrowding, strollers in every corner – even in the kitchen – and babies lying in strollers and beds,” one of the rescue workers said.
MDA and United Hatzalah medics arrived to evacuate the children. United Hatzalah Psychotrauma and Crisis Response Unit volunteers also assisted parents waiting for their children, spokesperson Simmy Allen told the Post.
Shaare Zedek Medical Center, which received about 25 of the toddlers, said: “Reinforced medical teams are providing medical and nursing care to all the toddlers, while social workers and administrative staff are assisting the families.”
The Israel Police and the Fire and Rescue Authority are investigating the incident.
Education Ministry confirmed the kindergarten was not recognized
An initial assessment indicated the scene involved a private daycare center for toddlers operating inside a private apartment in the haredi (ultra-Orthodox) neighborhood without a license, an Education Ministry spokesperson told Maariv.
Residents were advised to follow instructions from emergency crews, while responders worked to identify the substance and ventilate affected spaces.
The Education Ministry said it has been in contact with emergency responders. It said it had not authorized the facility, and no licensed daycare center operates at the address in question.
Yuval Bagno, Efrat Forsher, and Avihai Chiim contributed to this report.