A second Israeli died Wednesday after choking to death on a Hanukkah doughnut since the start of the Jewish holiday season, medical officials confirmed.
The death of the 67-year-old Bnei Brak resident is the second since the beginning of this season's Hanukkah holiday. Another person has been hospitalized after choking on a sufganiya.
"When we arrived at the scene, we saw the man lying unconscious while CPR was being performed on him," said a Magen David Adom medic that was present in the most recent incident.
"We saw a piece of a sufganiya close to him and we were told that he chocked while eating it. We continued the medical treatment and performed more advanced CPR, while extracting a piece of dough from his throat using medical equipment. Unfortunately we ended up having to pronounce his death."
Earlier this week, a 70-year old man from Netanya was hospitalized in critical condition after choking on a sufganiya on Monday. He was pronounced dead on Tuesday night.
Another person, a 61-year-old resident of the southern city Ofakim, was also hospitalized in critical condition after choking of a doughnut, but is still alive.
The MDA released a public service announcement, emphasizing that the sufganiya dough could be dangerous for babies, children, elderly people, and those who have trouble swallowing. "It's recommended to cut the sufganiya into small pieces, and supervise the consumption," the announcement said.
"One of the problems of the sufganiya is its crunchy-ness", explained Dr. Shlomo Merhavy, director of the ENT Department at the Ziv Medical Center in Safed. "As a result of this, a large amount of food can enter the windpipe and block our airways, unlike other food that is chewed more lightly and does not block the windpipe."