Two people have been arrested in Israel after a man died in a swimming pool sinkhole.
The man, named in Israeli news reports as 32-year-old Klil Kimhi, had been in the swimming pool when the sinkhole opened and he was sucked into the 13-metre-deep cavity.
He had been at the villa in the town of Karmei Yosef, about 25 miles west of Jerusalem, attending a party with his marketing company colleagues.
It took rescuers four hours to reach him – they had to work carefully as there were concerns more sinkholes could appear – but he was already dead.
Police said on Friday that a man and woman in their 60s are suspected of causing death by negligence.
They have appeared in court and have been released under “restrictive conditions of house arrest” for five days.
Witnesses told Israeli news media that there were nearly 50 people at the party and six were in the pool.
Shireen Abu Akleh’s family ‘incredulous’ after US finds Israeli gunfire ‘likely’ killed Palestinian journalist
Shireen Abu Akleh: US forensic experts to analyse bullet that killed Al Jazeera journalist
Israel faces fifth election in four years after parliament votes to dissolve itself
There were also claims that the owners of the villa had built the pool without proper permits.
Video from the scene showed the swimming pool water being sucked into the massive hole, as partygoers tried to grab hold of things to stop themselves being pulled in.
Inflatables in the pool were swept into the hole and disappeared.
Paramedic Uri Damari told the Jerusalem Post: “This is a very unusual incident.
“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.”
A 34-year-old man was also sucked into the hole but managed to escape with minor injuries to his head and limbs.
