Tragedy in Samaria: Heavy Marble Slab Falls on Reserve Soldier, Killing Him on His 34th Birthday

A terrible disaster in Samaria: a 34-year-old worker, a reserve soldier, was killed after being struck by a heavy marble slab that collapsed on him during work in the settlement of Shaare Tikva. Rescue forces called to the scene were forced to pronounce him dead there after complex extrication efforts by firefighters.

The disaster occurred exactly on his 34th birthday. The tragic and shocking incident took place this morning (Thursday) in the settlement of Shaare Tikva, in the Shaar Shomron Local Council. The 34-year-old was killed at the scene in a fatal work accident, when a heavy marble slab collapsed on him during work at a construction site in the settlement.

According to reporting by Lee Ayish, a correspondent for i24NEWS, the victim was a reserve soldier whose was crushed by a heavy marble slab. He was killed on his 34th birthday.

The serious incident occurred around 9:00 a.m. Emergency and rescue centers received urgent reports of a worker injured by a heavy object during work near the amphitheater and Granite Street in the settlement. According to the initial reports, the deceased was critically injured after a marble surface and heavy load that had been lifted by a crane or unloaded from a truck collapsed, trapping him underneath, unconscious and suffering from extremely severe multiple-system injuries.

Firefighters were quickly dispatched to the scene, along with expanded teams from Magen David Adom and United Hatzalah. MDA medics and paramedics, in cooperation with the firefighters who carried out the rescue of the trapped man, performed medical checks in the hope of providing life-saving treatment, but due to the nature of the severe and critical injuries, they had no choice but to pronounce him dead at the scene.

MDA paramedic Tomer Gusman, who treated the difficult scene, recounted the moments of horror: "They led us to the worker, he was trapped under the heavy load, unconscious, with no pulse and no breathing. While the firefighters carried out the complex rescue efforts, we performed appropriate medical checks, but unfortunately his injuries were critically severe and we were forced to pronounce him dead at the scene."

David Ackerman and Dudi Nagar, emergency medical volunteers with United Hatzalah who also arrived quickly at the scene, added: "The other workers at the construction site told us in fear that during the routine work a very heavy surface fell on him from a truck. Unfortunately, the injuries were too severe and he was pronounced dead at the scene."

ZAKA volunteers from the Samaria district of the Shomron area were also dispatched to the bloody scene. The volunteers, Or Shalit and Pinchas Luria, described the difficult sight before them: "When we arrived at the scene, we encountered a difficult and shocking incident. This is a worker who suffered direct and catastrophic injury after a very heavy load, which was lifted during the work, fell on him with force. The medical teams had to confirm his death, and we worked at the scene for many hours preserving the dignity of the deceased and collecting the many findings at the scene."

At this stage, the circumstances of the terrible disaster are under a joint investigation by the Israel Police and the work accident investigators of the Ministry of Labor and Welfare, who are trying to determine whether this was a technical failure in the crane and lifting equipment, or negligence in the safety instructions at the site.