One day after the two little girls, Yael and Avaigail Gross, died from exposure to pesticides in their Jerusalem apartment, on Thursday evening the members of yet another family from the Jerusalem area have been rushed for treatment after exposure to a similar substance.
The mother in today’s case, 41, and her 2-year-old daughter felt sick and arrived at a clinic in the neighborhood of Romema. They stated that the same exterminator that worked in the Gross’ apartment had been in theirs, too. Both reported suffering from headaches and diarrhea. The doctor who checked them said they appeared to be well, but decided, after consultation, to send them to Shaarey Zedek Medical Center for more tests.
Later it was decided to hospitalize four more children from the same family, even though they were not complaining of any pain.
Doctors believe the pesticide involved in the second case was different from the first one.
Meanwhile, in Jerusalem’s Mount Hamenuhot Cemetery, the father of the two girls, 18 months- and four-years-old, who died yesterday from pesticide poisoning, eulogized his children saying, “God has taken her into His arms. She was so dear. For everything she asked me, if I do this or that, will it count as a mitzvah… Such a pure soul… She just now started to talk, saying Abba, Imma…”
The father also begged the souls of his two girls to ask for divine charity on behalf of their two older brothers, Michael and Yizhak, who are still fighting for their lives in the ICU at Schneider Hospital in Petach Tikva.
According to the doctors at Schneider, the two boys’ status has improved somewhat, as their kidneys and livers are functioning better. But both boys are still hooked up to heart and lung machines.
A magistrate court in Jerusalem on Thursday remanded the exterminator, who is suspected of criminally negligent manslaughter, having left a container of pesticide in the apartment of the Gross family in Jerusalem. He is expected to be released to house arrest until Monday.
Police were asking for a five-day remand, for fear that the suspect might interfere with the investigation. The judge opted for house arrest instead because the accused does not have a criminal record and he has been cooperating with investigators.