Baruch Dayan Emmes: Emergency services were summoned on Tuesday morning 24 Elul to 14 Panim Meiros Street in the Romeima neighborhood due to a “strong smell of cooking gas”. Magen David Adom reports the dispatcher received the first call at 8:04 AM, dispatching EMTs and paramedics. When they finally entered the apartment from which the odor was emanating, they found two lifeless bodies, a man and a women in their fifties.
Ichud Hatzalah received calls for a couple unconscious in their apartment while Zaka responded to reports of a gas leak and lifeless bodies.
The first fire trucks pulled up on the scene at 7:58 AM and the strong smell of cooking gas was already detectable. Fire officer Udi Gal was first inside the building explaining he entered via a window of an adjoining apartment.
Responders treated the scene as a hazardous materials incident, and the building was evacuated as the necessary precautions were taken. Firefighters found the two lifeless bodies in the apartment, turning them over to EMS personnel on the scene. Unfortunately, it appears they were overcome by the gas a long time earlier and there was nothing to be done for them.
Yehuda Goldberg, the deputy commander of the Ichud Hatzalah national dispatch center was among those who arrived on the scene. He explained the call was received as a gas leak and they understood immediately the couple was a victim of the gas. He states they were both pronounced dead on the scene and Zaka took over dealing with the bodies.
It appears the gas leak began in the apartment of the couple and until it spread to the other apartments may have been as much as a day or two.
It is reported the couple was married for relatively short time, the husband from France and the wife from the United States. Rescue workers believe they were dead for some time as the kiddush was still on the table and the Shabbos hotplate was still on. Police are investigating.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem / Photos: Medabrim Tikshoret & Jerusalem Fire & Rescue)
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4 Responses
The couple that died were in there 30’s not there 50’s
So is their Yahrzeit Shabbos Ellul 21st? or today Ellul 24th? .. Meanwhile it is going to be very tough reciting uNesaneh Tokef with this couple, the 3 folks on route 17, and the 2 Bochurim from funeral on Pesach, ringing thru our minds.
and dont forget the poor girls in Arizona. Hashem Yeracheim!
Baruch Dayan HaEmet!
Excerpt From Jerusalem Post:
Yaniv and Rachel Peretz, a young couple in their 30s, were found dead in their apartment in Jerusalem on Tuesday morning following an apparent gas leak in their home.
Police said no foul play is suspected, nor do they think the case involves criminal negligence.
Magen David Adom paramedics called to the scene on Panim Meirot street said they found the couple lying lifeless inside their home, not long after emergency services received a call of a strong smell of gas coming from the apartment.
Paramedic Natanel Refuah said that the gas could be smelled out in the street in front of the building and that after the residents were evacuated from the building they entered along with firefighters, wearing special protective suits. Both Yaniv and Rachel were found unconscious on the floor of the apartment, and could not be revived, Refuah said.
At Peretz’s apartment building in the ultra-orthodox neighborhood of Matersdorf, a notice on the front door said that “wrath has struck our building” and that the tragic deaths were “a direct and strong warning from God to do repentance and to invest more time in studying Torah and observing the commandments.”
Sarit Ginzburg, the Peretz’s next door neighbor, called the incident a tragedy and described the two as “intelligent, cheerful and good people.”
She said that at the beginning of the week she had knocked on their door to invite them for meals over Rosh Hashana but that no one had answered.
Ginzburg also pointed to a box containing books on Jewish law sitting in the corner of her room, which had been delivered to the front door of the Peretz’s apartment.
It sat there for a couple of days, and this, together with the fact that the couple had not answered the door, aroused Ginzburg’s suspicions.
She and her husband had a spare key to the Peretz apartment in case of necessity, and they tried to unlock the door but failed since the door was locked from inside with the keys in the lock. Ginzburg’s husband then called the fire department that subsequently discovered the two bodies.
The young couple had covered the metal components of their stove top with aluminum foil and placed a metal sheet, known as a blech, over at least one lit flame for the duration of Shabbat. This set-up is frequently used in Orthodox households to keep food warm over Shabbat, when flames cannot be lit according to Jewish law.
It is thought that the foil and the metal sheet prevented enough oxygen from reaching the flame, causing the production of CO gas which is odorless and poisonous.
The couple had all the windows of the apartment shut, which led to the build up of the CO gas.
Yaniv Peretz was originally from France, while Rachel was from the US. They made aliya to Israel two years ago.
“They were very good people, always smiling, very intelligent, and people who just wanted to do good, loved the Land of Israel, and settled here, and eventually wanted to buy an apartment,” said Ginzburg.
She said her and her husband had been close with the Peretz’s and had frequently hosted them for Shabbat meals, at which Yaniv would often discuss the weekly Torah portion or other aspects of Jewish thought.
Yaniv worked in the hi-tech field and was also studying for a degree in computer science.
Rachel worked as an investor in the financial sector for private clients.
The couple had no children.
The funeral will take place at 9 a.m. on Wednesday at the Shmagar funeral home in the capital, and the couple will be buried in Tiberias.