2 government officials arrested in stage collapse case
Police arrest two Public Diplomacy Ministry officials in connection to Mount Herzl stage accident. Suspects questioned on suspicion of death by negligence
Jerusalem Police have arrested two additional suspects in connection to the stage accident in Mount Herzl, which claimed the life of First Lieutenant Hila Bezaleli earlier this month. The suspects are reported to be two high ranking officials in the Ministry of Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs, and were responsible for producing the Independence Day ceremony.
The suspects, who were questioned under caution on suspicion of death by negligence, were released under restrictions including removal from the Ministry's headquarters.
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The two officials are suspected of not thoroughly examining the documents relevant to the devastating accident. Police are expected to call other ministry employees in for further questioning.
The ministry's spokesperson, Gal Ilan, said that the "ministry is fully cooperating with the police. The accident is still under investigation and we're waiting for the full details."
So far, construction safety consultant Itzik Tzuker, Design Group engineer Oren Vershevsky and the company's owner Elad Levi, were taken in for questioning by Jerusalem police.
During one of the court hearings on the matter, a police official said that "there were many mistakes made concerning the inspection and approval of the structure's blueprints, which were signed by safety consultant Itzik Tzuker."
He further said that there were many inconsistencies between the suspects' statements. "Regarding the investigation, we now know that there were many malfunctions concerning the assembling and positioning of the light fixture which eventually collapsed," the police official said.
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