A man and woman in their 80s lost their lives overnight Tuesday in a fire that broke out in a residential building in Netanya.

Firefighters who arrived at the scene instructed the residents of the building to barricade themselves inside their apartments due to the thick smoke in the hallways. Firefighters worked to gain control of the fire while rescuing the trapped residents.

MDA and Hatzalah paramedics provided medical treatment and evacuated 11 victims suffering from smoke inhalation to Laniado Hospital, including the couple in their 80s who were in critical condition, while carrying out prolonged resuscitation attempts. Tragically, the hospital staff was later forced to declare their deaths.

Other victims included a 73-year-old woman who was evacuated in serious condition, a 42-year-old woman in moderate condition, and seven others in light condition, including two children.

MDA paramedic Gil Dekel said, “After the fire was extinguished, a man and a woman, both around 80 years old, were brought out to us—unconscious, without a pulse, and not breathing, after inhaling heavy smoke. We provided life-saving treatment, including prolonged resuscitation efforts, and evacuated them to the hospital in critical condition while fighting for their lives.”

MDA and Hatzalah paramedics Yehuda Deutsch, Eliyahu Rosenberg, and Yonatan Yankelvitz said, “We arrived at the scene quickly with large forces. We encountered a difficult scene of a burning residential building. With the help of additional MDA medics and paramedics, we began providing life-saving medical treatment and performed resuscitation operations on two trapped people.”

According to a Fire and Rescue spokesperson, an initial investigation showed that the fire was caused by candles that were left unattended.

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)