Man dies after sinkhole opens under swimming pool in Israel

A man was pulled to his death after a sinkhole opened up under a swimming pool he was in.

The incident happened at a villa that was hosting a company party in the central town of Karmi Yosef, 25 miles (40km) south-east of Tel Aviv.

The victim has been identified as a 32-year-old employee of the company, Klil Kimhi. Another man aged 34 narrowly escaped and needed treatment from paramedics at the scene for injuries to his lower body.

Footage from the scene shows swimmers – who were attending a private work party – clinging to the sides of the pool as the sinkhole swallowed everything including inflatables.

Media reports say Klil Kimhi, fell into the hole, which was 43ft (13 metres) deep and it took rescue teams four hours to reach him.

A couple in their 60s who own the property appeared in court after being arrested on suspicion of causing death by negligence.

A woman who saw the hole start to appear tried to get her friends to leave the pool before the victims begun sinking in.

She told Ynet news site: “Seconds later, the ground just dropped… I watched two people just disappear.”

One of the partygoers told Israel's Channel 12 News that there were about 50 people at the gathering, while another said there were only about six people in the pool when the sink hole opened, Israel media reported.

“The water level suddenly started receding and a hole opened up, creating a vortex that swept two people inside,” the unnamed woman told Channel 12 News.

The Times of Israel quoted local media as saying the homeowner had built the pool without planning permission at the site, which had known infrastructure problems.

Paramedic Uri Damari told The Jerusalem Post: “When I got to the scene I saw a pit that had opened at the bottom of the empty pool.

“People who were at the site told me that the pit opened suddenly and within a few seconds all the water of the pool was pulled in.”