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American Morning

Building Collapses During Israeli Wedding

Aired May 25, 2001 - 11:01   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: The top story is in Jerusalem, where hopes of finding more survivors from a collapsed building are now fading. Hundreds of people were attending a wedding celebration when part of the reception hall caved in, as you just saw. At least 25 people were killed. At least 250 others were injured. Let's go now to get the latest to CNN's Ben Wedeman, who is at the scene -- Ben.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Miles, that accident, that catastrophe happened about 20 hours ago and put this country in a state of shock. The shock has been compounded by the release, or making public, of this amateur video of the wedding party that occurred here last night.

Large wedding parties are quite the norm here. And it looked like this moment of joy has turned into a moment of catastrophe, as was captured on that amateur video.

One moment, all was joy, all was happiness. And an instant later, the floor fell from beneath the wedding party as the people fell through three floors of the building.

There were more than 600 people attending this wedding party. At the moment, as you said before, the death toll stands at about the mid-twenties. There are still, we are being told by sources here at the site, somewhere between 10 and 20 people still unaccounted for.

Earlier -- rather, at the moment -- there are funerals going on here in Jerusalem for those people. Just a little while ago, the Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon visited the site, said that the country, the government, would be focusing on ways to remedy this sort of catastrophe and avoid it in the future, Miles.

O'BRIEN: That's CNN's Ben Wedeman at that scene of that collapse in Jerusalem.

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