The talmidim of the Belzer yeshiva in the community of Beit Hilkia complained of not feeling well on Wednesday evening, with many complaining of burning eyes while others were coughing.

Due to the fear that this was a poisoning, the fire department was called and the talmidim were evacuated from the building to the yishuv’s shul. In accordance with the procedures at the time of the hazardous materials event, poison monitoring was carried out at the site, and at the end they decided that it would be possible to return to the meeting.

It turned out that the source of the burning and coughing was the spraying of the nearby agricultural fields conducted earlier in the day, and the fumes penetrated the yeshiva.

A number of the talmidim received treatment on site and B’chasdei Hashem, no one was seriously ill or required transport to a hospital.

Beit Hilkia is a chareidi moshav in central Israel located in the shefela near Gedera. It falls under the jurisdiction of Nachal Sorek Regional Council.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)