Video reveals wedding horror

One moment dancing, the next diaster

Dramatic amateur video footage has revealed the full horror of the moment when the floor gave way at a Jerusalem wedding reception, plunging guests three storeys down in a tangle of metal and jagged concrete.

I'd see a hand. I'd see a person. They tried to get me out and I had to walk on them

Tamar Revivo
Wedding guest

The video shows guests dancing, some with children in their arms, and then suddenly disappearing as the floor collapses.

People left on what remained of the top floor began screaming and sobbing hysterically as they ran around in panic amid a thick cloud of dust rising through the gaping hole.

So far, at least 23 bodies have been recovered, and more than 300 injured have been treated in hospital.

Desperate rescue efforts are continuing throught the night, with 10 to 12 of the estimated 700 guests still unaccounted for.

The collapse has left a gaping hole in the building

Among the injured were the newlyweds - the bride suffered pelvic injuries but the groom was only slightly injured. They have been placed in adjacent hospital beds.

Investigation

Four people - the owner, an engineer, a designer and a contractor - were arrested Friday, police said.

Israel TV's Channel Two said a preliminary investigation pointed to negligence in the original 1986 construction, and indicated that a supporting column was removed in renovations three months ago.

Late on Thursday, one of the engineers under suspicion sent a worker to the municipal offices in Jerusalem to try to snatch documents linked to the construction, the report said.

The police refused comment on the report.

Mr Sharon will convene a special Cabinet meeting

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who called the accident a "national disaster," said he would convene a special Cabinet meeting to look into the possibility of launching an official commission of inquiry.

"This was a shocking incident, one of the most difficult that occurred in Israel," Mr Sharon said after inspecting the scene.

The city's deputy mayor said the building had been built for an industrial purpose - not to hold wedding receptions.

Shimon Shitreet told the BBC that the strength of the floors was below standard and that the owner of the building was being sued for leaking water pipes.

Police have questioned the owner of the hall, the engineer who designed it and others connected with the construction of the Versailles wedding hall in the southern district of Talpiot.

In attempting to reach those buried, the rescue workers are putting their own lives at risk as the rest of building is unstable and could collapse around them.

As a result, it has not been possible to use heavy lifting equipment, which would have sped up the frantic race to find survivors.

BBC correspondent Orla Guerin described the scene as one of widespread devastation, with rescue workers pulling away the debris with their bare hands.

Keren and Assaf Dror were celebrating their marriage when the accident occurred at about 2245 local time (1945 GMT) on Thursday night.

"We were on [top of] people - those poor people," said Tamar Revivo, 26, from her hospital bed on Friday, where she was being treated for a fractured right ankle.

"I'd see a hand. I'd see a person. They tried to get me out and I had to walk on them," she said.

People were dancing and all of a sudden the dance floor collapsed, and all the tables around it fell through

Wedding guest Rami Mordechai

One man described how he fell holding the hand of his 10-year-old son. He said they were both rescued from beneath the rubble.

"'Daddy, don't be frightened. I'm with you'," he said his son told him. "Then we fell through one floor and another."

Final embrace

One couple found dead in the rubble were still seated at their table and locked in an embrace.

Bridegroom's relative Sarah Pinhas said dancers had lifted the father of the bride on a chair, a traditional part of the celebration, when suddenly he fell.

"Then we felt the whole building collapse, everything fell down. We managed to climb down the side of the building," she said.