A company party with about 50 people was going on in the pool belonging to a villa. Six people were in the water when the bottom of the pool collapsed. Two of them were sucked into the whirlpool. A 34-year-old man was able to free himself from the hole and suffered a few superficial injuries. Another man was less fortunate. After a long search, he was found four hours later in a tunnel that had formed under the pool about 15 meters from the site of the hole. Rescuers, who were afraid of new collapses, first had to prop up the resulting tunnels.
According to the Times of Israel, a witness stated: “The water level dropped very quickly and then suddenly a hole appeared. That created a vortex that swallowed two people.” Another witness: “The ground just disappeared. I saw two people just disappear.”
The owner of the swimming pool, who has often organized such parties, is being questioned by the authorities. There is doubt about whether there is a permit for the swimming pool and whether the soil structure allows the construction of such a pool. That could land him on a culpable homicide charge.
According to Professor Shmuel Marco, it is unlikely that the soil structure alone is the cause of the accident. “Probably leaking water is the cause of erosion. There are no known natural sinkholes in that area,” he told Ynet News.