The beach was packed with onlookers, surrounding the intended paratroop landing area.
Throughout Israel, millions celebrated the nation's 60th anniversary. But the celebrations were marred by a freak accident at one of the central events, on the Tel Aviv beach, when one of the paratroopers demonstrating a parachute landing was blown off course and hurtled at high speed into the crowd. The paratrooper and two others were seriously injured, while five others suffered minor to moderate injuries. Ambulances had difficulty evacuating the wounded due to the crowded conditions.
The following video, filmed minutes before the accident occurred, shows the environment in which the paratroopers landed. The accident, which took place with the very last paratrooper to land, was preceded by a dozen or so successful landings, and an awe-inspiring demonstration of aerobatic acumen by Israeli Air Force pilots.
The paratrooper, an experienced reserve soldier, and two other people sustained serious wounds, and there remains a danger to the lives of the two spectators. There are reports that the skydiver's condition is now listed as moderately injured with damage to his spine and pelvis. Two people were moderately injured and three others suffered mild injuries. They were evacuated to either the Edith Wolfson Medical Center in Holon or the Sourasky Medical Center in Tel Aviv.
According to eyewitnesses, the paratrooper missed his landing spot and hit the spectators, apparently straying from the landing area due to the strong gusts. IDF officials said all the paratroopers were experienced reservists who had skydived numerous times during their military service and had sufficiently trained for the Independence Day display.
Avi Simovitz, head of the Magen David Adom emergency services personal assigned to the scene, who witnessed the crash, told Ynet that the paratrooper tried unsuccessfully to avert the audience. "We were standing on the beach and saw how one of the skydivers was propelling down uncontrollably, in mass speed.... he tried to turn the parachute towards the ocean, but then he crashed into the people standing near the security barriers, and then slammed into the ground."
"There were about 10 to 15 people in the air. It all looked fine, when suddenly one of them began shaken by the wind and landed too fast," an eyewitness said. "There were thousands of people on Tel Aviv's beaches and it was awfully crowded, and that is what must have caused injuries to a relatively high number of people. The incident took place about 45 minutes after the air show began."
Carolina Russo, 62, from Rishon Leziyon, recounts her injury: "I saw a paratrooper descending towards us, and I guess at some point he landed in our area. I felt him hover over my head, closed my eyes, and suddenly found myself on the ground. I had lost consciousness."
Dr. David Safran, Head of Trauma at Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center said: "Two severely injured people are in critical condition in the ICU. One mildly injured man is being treated for spinal and pelvic injuries and five more lightly injured people are treated each according to their injury."
Emergency rescue services were hard-pressed to reach the injured as many people had rushed to the scene of the accident.
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