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Terrorist freed in exchange for Gilad Shalit dies in construction accident

Two dead, four injured after scaffolding collapses at building site in Givat Ze’ev. Among the dead – a terrorist freed in a prisoner exchange. 

By World Israel News Staff

Two people were killed and four more injured in a construction accident northwest of Jerusalem Monday afternoon.

At least six people, all of them workers employed at the site, were trapped after scaffolding collapsed from the ninth floor of a 12-story building under construction on HaRakefet Street in Givat Ze’ev.

Rescue teams and emergency medical responders from Magen David Adom (MDA) and United Hatzalah were dispatched to the scene to recover and treat the injured.

Two of the victims pulled from the debris were declared dead at the scene, while a third victim suffered moderate injuries. The remaining three victims all suffered light injuries.

“Large pieces of scaffolding collapsed at a construction site,” said United Hatzalah volunteer EMTs Yossi Guthold and Avi Yudakowsky, who were among the first responders at the scene.

“We treated five people who sustained varying degrees of injuries as a result of the collapse, and our ambulance team transported one of them to the hospital. Firefighters pulled one person from the wreckage who was already dead, and there was nothing for us to do to treat him.”

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Police officers are searching the debris for any other trapped workers.

According to a report by Channel 12, one of the victims killed in the collapse has been identified as a former terrorist who had been incarcerated in an Israeli prison. He was freed as part of a prisoner exchange with the Hamas terrorist organization in 2011 to secure the release of captured IDF soldier Gilad Shalit.

Israel released a total of 1,027 prisoners in exchange for Shalit’s return.

The names of the victims killed in the collapse have not been cleared for publication.

The injured workers have been identified as Arab residents of the Palestinian Authority-administered city of Bethlehem.