Tel Aviv building collapses, likely due to old age

Resident of three-story building says he felt shock wave as structure crumbled; police don't believe anyone trapped inside.

By BEN HARTMAN
Tel Aviv buidling collapse (photo credit: Ben Hartman)
Tel Aviv buidling collapse
(photo credit: Ben Hartman)
A three-story building in central Tel Aviv partially collapsed on Wednesday afternoon, with half of the building lying in ruins in the courtyard below.
By late-afternoon, IDF search and rescue teams with trained dogs were searching for survivors, but police said they did not believe anyone was trapped in the rubble, at the intersection of Nachlat Binyamin and Ahad Ha’am streets.
Tel Aviv police believe the collapse occurred because the building, which has landmark preservation status, was more than 60 years old, and as the result of a gas explosion as had been previously reported.
Guy Dallal, who lives in the building with his wife, says he was at home when the collapse happened, in his apartment on the other side of the building. He felt a shock wave of some sort and left the building, without injury.
Another resident, Sigal, said she was in her apartment and felt the building shaking, at which point she left the building, shortly before her apartment collapsed.
A bulldozer was on the scene around 4 p.m., working to take down the rest of the building as residents gave testimony to tax authorities.