A supporting wall in an elementary school classroom in Karkur near Pardes Hanna collapsed on Tuesday during renovation on the building, N12 reported on Wednesday.
Miraculously, no one was injured in the accident, as school was out for the Sukkot holiday. Students are expected to return to school on Thursday.
"This was a serious case of neglect," a parent of two students at the school told N12. "We are scared to send them to school tomorrow. The buildings are old and no longer worthy."
קיר קרס בביה"ס יסודי בפרדס חנה-כרכור. רק במזל מטורף כל הילדים בחופש ולכן לא היו נפגעים. ככל הנראה מדובר במבנה ישן שעשו בו שיפוץ רעוע ביותר, מה שהביא לקריסה. מהמועצה נמסר: אירוע חריג וחמור pic.twitter.com/yN0RCIr34r
— ליה ספילקין | Lia Spilkin (@LiaSpilkin) September 29, 2021
Two weeks ago, a building collapsed in Holon. Luckily, the residents were evacuated a day earlier following reports of an explosion and visible cracks in the building.
Since the collapse, several buildings have been inspected and residents have been evacuated from buildings in several cities around the country, including Hadera and Haifa. A building was similarly evacuated on Sunday in Tel Aviv.
In a discussion on Homefront readiness for emergencies in 2020, the Contractors Union claimed that a million apartments and thousands of public buildings could collapse in the event of a strong earthquake, according to a report by Globes.
"This is a serious incident," said the Regional Council of Pardess Hanna-Karkur in a statement. "An order was issued to fence off the building with the affected classroom in order or prevent entry [into it] until all the safety examinations are completed."
"We will not rest until the incident and its circumstances are investigated and until we confirm that the building meets all the necessary safety requirements," regional council head Hagar Perry Yagur said.