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Update: Fourth body found in Tel Aviv's collapsed building

Xinhua, September 6, 2016 Adjust font size:

Rescue forces said Tuesday they pulled a fourth body from a multi-story underground car park that collapsed a day before in Israel's financial capital Tel Aviv.

The teams believe that other three missing construction workers are trapped underneath the rubbles. "The effort is ongoing," a military spokesperson said in a statement.

Local media reported that the missing workers are Palestinian citizens of Israel and Palestinian residents of the West Bank.

Some 50,000 Palestinians have permits to work in Israel, and many others are entering the country without papers. Together they compose a substantial part of Israel's construction labor force.

Hundreds of firefighters, soldiers, police officers, and medical personnel have been struggling to retrieve survivors after the parking garage collapsed at midday Monday, injuring at least 23 construction workers.

The structure was still under construction at the time of the collapse.

Earlier on Tuesday, Luba Samri, a spokeswoman for the police, said a third body was extracted. The construction worker showed no signs of life when the rescuers finally reached him, about 24 hours after the collapse.

On Monday night, the teams retrieve the body of another worker, identified as a 28-year-old man from Ukraine. Another body, also found on Monday, has yet to be identified.

The reason for the collapse is still unclear. Police have launched a criminal investigation into the collapse, suspecting negligence.

The accident occurred in Ramat Hachayal, a neighborhood in northern Tel Aviv, home to many offices of Israel's booming high-tech industry.

The car park was constructed by Africa-Israel, a construction company based in Israel that won a tender to build to the site from the Tel Aviv municipality.

Israel has a high number of construction accidents, compared to other developed countries. According to figures from the Economy and Industry Ministry, 30 workers were killed in construction sites since the beginning of 2016. Endit