A terrible tragedy occurred at the atzeres in Jerusalem on Thursday afternoon when a 17-year-old yeshiva bochur fell to his death from a crane at a high-rise construction site on Shderot Shazar, near the entrance to Jerusalem.

He fell from the tallest building in Jerusalem—a 40-story building—and was killed instantly.

He was later identified as Menachem Mendel Litzman, z’l.

Passersby who witnessed the fall immediately called emergency services. Paramedics who arrived at the scene found the boy showing no signs of life, suffering from severe multi-system trauma, and were forced to pronounce him dead on the spot.

Police forces arrived and opened an investigation into the circumstances of the incident.

MDA paramedics said, “The boy was lying at the foot of the high-rise construction site unconscious, with no pulse and no breathing, with very severe multi-system trauma. We were told that he fell from a great height. We performed medical tests, but his injury was critical, and unfortunately, all that was left for us to do was to pronounce him dead.”

Following the tragedy, an announcement was made by loudspeakers to anyone remaining on top of cranes and roofs. “Anyone who is in a place where they are afraid something might happen, hold on tight to where you are and wait for the security forces.”

Shortly before, media outlets commented on the dangerous situation, including the following videos, one of which shows someone crossing from a crane to a building:

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)