Five people responsible for a science fair where 3 children were burned were convicted

The verdict in the accident case in the scientific experiment in Tel Aviv

(Photo: Shahar Goldstein)

Seven and a half years later The accident in the scientific experiment In Tel Aviv, where three children were burned, the city magistrate’s court negligently convicted five out of seven The defendants In the case, including senior members of the ORT network. The other two defendants were acquitted due to doubt.

The accident occurred at the “Science Fair” event that took place in March 2014 in Rabin Square in Tel Aviv. The incident, produced by the ORT network, involved an experiment with alcohol during which a fire broke out that grabbed three children and caused them burns and bruises, which resulted in the need for medical treatment and hospitalization. Two seven- and nine-year-old brothers were badly injured from burns to their faces and necks and another nine-year-old boy was lightly injured from burns to his body.

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The three children were burned and needed prolonged care. One of the children injured in the incident

(Photo: Yogev Atias)

Judge Yaron Gat today (Thursday) convicted Sharona Calderon (52) from Ramat Gan, head of special projects in the ORT network, Smadar Or (58) from Rishon Lezion, head of the educational mentoring unit within the ORT network, Ran Sofer ( 68) from Pardes Hanna, head of the Institute for Teaching and Learning Improvement as part of the director and research network at the ORT network, Gilad Bayo (49) from Tel Aviv, director of a private event production company, and Solomon Taksir (72) from Hadera, safety engineer at the science fair.

Calderon, Orr and Sofer were convicted of the offense of recklessness and negligence, for which the maximum penalty is up to three years in prison. Bayou and Texir were convicted of negligent sabotage with a maximum sentence of up to one year in prison. The two other defendants from the ORT network, Alona Eisenberg and Shimon Levinson, were acquitted due to doubt. The judge stressed that they too were involved in the negligence that led to the accident, but there was not enough evidence against them.

The judge harshly criticized the convicts and adopted the prosecution’s position, stating that “the accident is the result of blaming actual and ongoing negligence, ignoring the safety issue and lack of basic safety judgment on the part of those responsible for the incident and those responsible for the content of the activity and the students presenting.”

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“She did not put the safety of those involved at the forefront of her mind.” Calderon in the verdict

(Photo: Moti Kimhi)

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Light in the verdict

(Photo: Moti Kimhi)

Gat added that there was a “complete disregard of the warning lights that were lit in a bright light regarding the safety risks involved in presenting the experiment in question, of ‘nearby culture’ – in the form of ‘blind reliance’ on irrelevant previous experience “It is not dangerous, no matter what, of abdicating responsibility and ‘rolling over’ responsibility for each other, and for various external factors.”

At the end of the verdict, the court noted that “none of the defendants chose to take responsibility, even general managerial responsibility, for the unfortunate accident and serious injuries caused to the victims of the crime. None of them even expressed real empathy for the great and ongoing suffering of the victims and their families.”

At the beginning of the reading of the verdict, the judge apologized for the long time the trial took due to the complexity of the case. One of the convicts, the producer of the event, Gilad Bio, did not appear for the verdict, even though he was required to appear before the decision.

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Parents of injured children. “ORT network does not take responsibility, is not interested in their safety”

(Photo: Moti Kimhi)

According to the evidence presented by the representative of the State Attorney’s Office, Adv. Itai Frost, as part of the Science Day in 2014, held at the initiative of the Ministry of Science, it was decided to hold a science fair in Rabin Square in Tel Aviv under the title “Israeli Science Day”. To produce the event, among other things, a tent was set up with a “street lab.”

In an experiment that sought to demonstrate the movement of a steamboat, a cotton ball dipped in a flammable material was used that heated water in the tube and thus steam was created which was released at the pressure of the tube key and propelled the boat. At the start of the fair, on March 26, 2014, at around 4:60 PM, L. and her two young children, aged seven and nine, as well as her friend H. and her nine-year-old son arrived at the tent to watch an experiment conducted by a student with the steamboat model.

During the experiment the student noticed that the cotton ball was not lit according to the need of the experiment, and poured a large amount of alcohol on it. As a result, a large fire broke out holding the three children, who were standing near the site of the experiment, while the two mothers Trying to put out the fire Who held their children. The three children were burned and needed prolonged care. Years of them were left with scars on their faces.

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Did not examine in depth the nature of the activity. Texir (center) with his lawyer Zilberschlag (left)

(Photo: Moti Kimhi)

According to Ministry of Education procedures, among other things, a reasonable distance had to be maintained between the audience watching the experiment and the location of the experiment itself to avoid danger. It was further argued that with respect to the experiment in question, it was determined by the Ministry of Education that this experiment would be conducted only in a laboratory in a school.

The indictment further states that Bio, who produced the incident, and Takiser, the safety engineer, did not address the nature of the experiments to be conducted at the fair and did not examine in depth the nature of the activity. The application form submitted to the municipality for approval states that “the fair includes science games and thinking games,” without mentioning the existence of the experiments.

The court said of the main defendant, Calderon, that “it did not put the safety of those involved in the forefront, did not exercise safety judgment, did not concentrate and did not worry about examining the safety of the contents, activities and materials used in ORT’s tent, even though it knew fire and alcohol should be used. .

Adv. Oded SaboraiPhoto: Hannah Schreibman

L. said after the decision was made that “after almost eight difficult years we spent alone, as if it happened only to us, when the ORT network does not take responsibility, is not interested in their safety and does not care about helping us rehabilitate children, as if it were not an education network, home determination “The law heralds good news for all the children of Israel, in the hope that they will learn the verdict. I thank God that something positive came out and they will learn the responsibility and care that all children in Israel deserve.”

Advocate Gadi Zilberschlag, who represented Texir, said after the verdict that his client was acquitted of the serious offense attributed to him and convicted of a lesser offense. Return to her professional life.

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