Nine people arrested in connection with the collapse of a wedding banquet hall inJerusalem were today remanded in custody for several more days.
The nine, who include the building's owners, contractors and their associates, made their first court appearance last night, hours after rescue workers called off the search for survivors.
The hearing, which lasted over two hours, was disrupted at the end by a car bomb that exploded in a parking lot near the Jerusalem magistrates' court.
Despite the disturbance, the judge ordered seven of the nine to be held until Thursday. Two people suspected of having tried to obstruct the investigation were ordered to be held until Tuesday.
The top floor of the Versailles wedding hall buckled on Thursday night, sending hundreds of wedding guests plunging three stories into a pit of concrete slabs and twisted metal.
After picking through the ruins for 42 hours, rescue crews called off the search for survivors and held a memorial service at the site, despite conflicting claims about whether all employees attending to the guests were accounted for.
Twenty-three bodies were pulled out of the ruins on Friday. Of the more than 300 injured, about 150 remained in hospital on Saturday. More than a dozen were in serious condition.
The head of the rescue team, Major General Gabi Ofir, said that after speaking to police he was satisfied that there were no more people in the building. He said the risk of continuing the searches in the unstable ruins was too great.
AP