Jerusalem buries wedding dead

The scale of the destruction is evident as rescue workers crawl over the debris

Funerals for those killed in the Jerusalem wedding hall collapse are under way as hopes of finding anyone still alive in the wreckage fade.

Twenty four bodies have so far been recovered and at least 10 people are still unaccounted for.

At Jerusalem's Shamgar Cemetery, thousands attended one funeral after another late on Friday, including that of three-year-old Itai Yakov Dayan.

Missing unknown

More funerals are set to take place when the Jewish Sabbath ends on Saturday.

As the search entered its third day, the precise number of missing remained unclear. Israeli army official, Gideon Baron, said no relatives of the 600 guests who attended the Thursday night wedding had inquired about missing people in recent hours.

I did not understand what happened at all at first, I did not know what I was doing or where I was. I was in another world

Wedding videographer David Amromin

There is growing speculation among rescue workers that if victims were still trapped under the debris, they might be Palestinian or foreign employees whose families are unaware they are missing.

160 in hospital

More than 300 people were injured when the floor of the Versailles hall in west Jerusalem caved in during a wedding reception on Thursday night, sending guests plunging three storeys.

More than 160 people remain in hospital, including 16 who are in serious condition.

The exact moment that celebration turned to tragedy was captured in a terrifying video.

Footage broadcast repeatedly worldwide showed guests dancing, some with children in their arms, and then suddenly disappearing as the floor collapsed.

Hysteria

People stranded 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.

The body of three-year-old Itai Yakov Dayan is carried to his grave

Israeli police said they had arrested eight people in connection with the nation's worst-ever civil disaster.

"Those arrested include four owners, an engineer, a building contractor and two others involved," said police spokesman Shmuel Ben-Ruby.

"They will be held until we decide whether or not they should go to court," he said.

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

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.

The city's deputy mayor said the building, which stood in Talpiot industrial area, had been built for an industrial purpose - not to hold wedding receptions.

Although there have been no signs of life in the wreckage, rescue workers have vowed to search on.

The instructions are to continue looking for survivors

Captain Nahum Nasher
Rescuers medical chief

"We are still looking for missing people," Captain Nahum Nasher, chief medical doctor of the rescue team, said on Saturday.

"The instructions are to continue looking for survivors."

Rabbis had granted the rescuers rare permission to continue their work on the Sabbath. On Saturday morning an Orthodox Jew dressed in army fatigues and a white prayer shawl led prayers in a in a makeshift morgue.

Nearby, rescue teams used flexible cameras the size of a pen and sniffer dogs to search crevices for possible survivors.

Survivor's stories

Survivors of have been telling of their experiences.

Shlomi Srur said he told his son during the celebration, "the floor is trembling here, something is wrong. I have a bad feeling."

Within minutes, his wife and two of his sons were hurled into the chasm and killed.

Prayers were held at the scene of the disaster

Alisa Sror, the bridegroom's mother, said she had just congratulated her son and sent him off to dance with his bride when the floor swallowed up the revellers.

"The wall collapsed on them, the floor, the tables," she said from her hospital bed.

Among the injured were the bride and groom - Keren and Assaf Dror; she suffered pelvic injuries but her husband was only slightly injured.