The residential apartment buildings in the city of Kiryat Shmona were evacuated of their residents shortly before Yom Kippur due to a significant threat that they would soon collapse. The buildings were evacuated after a resident in one of the buildings reported that she heard loud noises coming from the walls.

The resident reported to the police that she heard a loud noise and that there was suddenly a crack in the walls and that the ceramic tiles had shifted. The residents then received a directive to evacuate the building. They were then evacuated just one hour prior to the beginning of Yom Kippur. The city engineer who arrive to inspect the building decided that it was unsafe to allow people to return to the building. They were all taken to a hotel in the area for the holiday.

A Spokesperson for the Fire Department said: “Firefighters arrived at the scene and reported a large crack on the ground floor of the three-story building. Additionally, two other buildings adjacent to the first are also under threat of collapsing. Our teams went through the buildings together with police officers and evacuated the building. We also cut the buildings off from their sources of energy. Overall, 15 families were evacuated.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)