Three patients and a visitor to the urology department at Ziv Hospital in Safed were lightly injured today when an internal wall partially collapsed. The wall collapsed during construction work to strengthen the main building of the hospital.
Fire and rescue teams from the Northern District have arrived at the scene and are investigating to determine whether another collapse is possible. The construction work has been halted and the hospital has announced that it will conduct an investigation into the incident to determine the circumstances that led to the collapse.
Ziv Hospital has undergone extensive renovation work in recent years, including work to strengthen the main structure of the hospital, after it became clear that it was not prepared to withstand a large earthquake.
Fire Brigade commander Adi Raviv said at the scene: "Upon receiving a call about the collapse of a wall at Ziv Hospital, we left for the scene with increased forces ... Firefighters will remain in place until the evacuation work is completed."