two infants died and 53 babies and toddlers were injured to varying degrees in an incident at an unlicensed Jerusalem daycare on Monday, prompting the arrest of three of the caregivers working there.
The cause of the deadly incident was not immediately clear, although Hebrew-language media reported that police investigators were examining whether it was linked to a faulty heating system in the illegal daycare, which operated out of several adjacent apartments on Ha’Mem Gimel Street in Jerusalem’s Haredi-majority Romema neighborhood.
While the incident was initially suspected to have involved hazardous materials, police said they ruled that out as a cause.
Three caregivers were detained for questioning, police said, as the inquiry continued.
The Magen David Adom and United Hatzalah emergency services initially received an alert from the daycare about an infant girl, aged around three months, who was unresponsive and did not have a pulse.
Upon their arrival at the daycare, medical teams were presented with a second baby, a boy of 4 months, also unresponsive and in critical condition.
The two were rushed to Hadassah Hospital and the shaare Zedek Medical Center while undergoing CPR but were pronounced dead upon arrival.
According to the ultra-Orthodox Behadrei haredim news site,monday was the first day that one of the deceased babies attended the daycare.
The National Council for the Child, in a statement issued as the incident unfolded, demanded an immediate investigation by the Israel Police and Education Ministry into “not only the serious negligence, but the issue of the daycare’s operating license, as well.”
“Operating early childhood frameworks without licensing, supervision, and mandatory standards is nothing less than a life sentence,” it warned.
