Four relatives in Israel were killed when an Iranian missile slammed into a residential building overnight, in an incident that could have been deadlier if its bomb wasn’t a dud, officials said.
The Israeli military partly intercepted the missile on route to an oil refinery in the northern city of Haifa late Sunday, but the missile’s warhead survived and crashed into a residential complex, the New York Times reported.
The impact caused portions of the building to collapse, leading to an 18-hour search mission for survivors, including an 82-year-old man and a baby who were rescued by first responders removing stones and concrete blocks with their bare hands, said Erez Geller, the director for the Magen David Adom ambulance service.
“Part of the building remained intact, and part had collapsed into a hollow,” Geller told the Times. “It looked like there had been an earthquake.”
The four dead victims were identified as Dima Gershovitz, 42, his wife, Lucille Jane, 35, his father, Vladimir Gershovitz, 73, and his mother, Lena Gershovitz, 70, according to Israeli media.
Gershovitz, an engineer, had just brought his father home after an extended stay at a Haifa hospital just hours before the missile hit their home and buried them underneath the rubble, Ynet reported.
The search and rescue operation was complicated by the fact that the missile’s warhead did not explode upon impact, but Geller noted that the bomb’s failure spared the lives of the survivors.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed his condolences to the families of the dead as he stressed the importance for residents to adhere to siren warnings when a missile attack is detected.
Those who were caught in Sunday’s strike in Haifa were inside the residential building and not at the nearest bomb shelter with their neighbors, officials said.
“The most important thing, however, which came up again in this conversation, is one simple rule, an ironclad rule,” Netanyahu said. “For those who follow the instructions of the Home Front Command and remain in a protected area, the chances of getting hurt are virtually non-existent.”
The attack, which Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps claimed responsibility for without mentioning the residential building hit, is the second deadliest in Israel so far since the war began Feb. 28.
The Jewish state has faced increased pressure to better defend its residents amid the war with Iran as the Islamic state’s missiles continue to periodically pierce Israel’s air defense system.
Cluster bomb attacks left at least six people injured on Monday in northern and central Israel, with a 34-year-old woman left seriously wounded in Petah Tikva, Magen David Adom said.
At least 23 people have been killed in Israel so far by missile fire from Iran and its Hezbollah allies in Lebanon, according to Israeli officials.
