Tragedy in Lod: Baby dies in house fire
Storm claims another victim: Electric heater left running throughout the night likely caused fire in residential building that killed year-old baby. Man, 36, died Friday while trying to repair roof leak. Storm begins to wind down; 30,000 still without power
Storm claims another victim: A year-old baby, Ubeida Alan, died Saturday morning in a fire at his home in the Ramat Eshkol neighborhood in the city of Lod. The fire apparently broke out due to an electric heater that was left running throughout the night. It occurred on the fourth floor of a residential building.
The baby's father, who tried to rescue his son, sustained light wounds and was taken to hospital with burns in his hands.
Massive storm:
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"The father tried to put out the fire with a bucket," a Fire Services spokesman said. "We went inside and found the baby lifeless."
The spokesman noted that the other children were rescued and did not sustain any injuries. "We are looking into the circumstances of the fire, which likely erupted due to a heater that was positioned near the mattress." Police are investigating the incident.
The mother said that her two older kids were sleeping in another room when the fire erupted. "We went to sleep at 2 am and turned off the heater. My eldest woke us up. We tried to rescue (the baby) but couldn't."
The family's neighbor recounted, "When he (the father) opened the door he saw flames and called for help. We tried to put out the fire with water but couldn't manage it before the rescue forcces came. The got here quickly but there was nothing left to do."
On Friday evening, a 36-year-old man from Rishon Lezion was killed while trying to repair a leak in his roof. He fell off the ladder and died. He was survived by a wife and three children.
Meanwhile, Israelis are still feeling the effects of the storm which is beginning to wind down. The Israel Electric Corp said that 29,600 households across the country are without power as a result of the tough weather conditions.
They include 12,900 in Jerusalem, 7,000 in the north, 2,000 in central and southern Israel and thousands more in the West Bank. The IEC said that it would take a considerable amount of time to restore electricity.
Snow is still expected to fall in Jerusalem which remained sealed in addition to Safed. All routes to the capital are closed. The Ayalon Highway was reopened Friday night after being closed for an hour an a half. Police said it might close the highway again if it becomes flooded.
Gilad Morag, Omri Efraim, Maor Buchnik and Ahiya Raved contributed to this report
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