Nine months after the Versailles wedding hall collapse, which claimed the lives of 23 people, the Israel Police National Fraud Unit has completed its investigation into the affair and recommended the indictment of all those implicated in the disaster.
The police recommended indicting Eli Ron, inventor of the Pal Kal construction method used in building the wedding hall, for manslaughter and grave bodily harm. The police believe Ron knew that the floor could give suddenly, but continued to market his method.
The police also recommended indicting building contractor Yaakov Aviv for manslaughter and grave bodily harm.
The police further recommended indicting engineers Dan Sheffer, Shimon Kaufman and Yair Gutman, who designed the building, for causing death by negligence, causing grave bodily harm by negligence and breach of the Planning and Building Law.
The police also recommended indicting the Versailles wedding hall owners for causing death by negligence and causing grave bodily harm by negligence.
Published by Israel's Business Arena on 29 January, 2002