An Israeli couple has been charged in a bizarre death when a sinkhole opened up in the bottom of their pool while they were having a party, sucking one of their guests to a ghastly end.
Israeli authorities said that they placed the couple under house arrest a day after a man attending a party at their villa died after being sucked into a sinkhole that formed at the bottom of their swimming pool.
The man and woman — both in their sixties — are accused of causing death by negligence, police said. They were arrested last week, and a court decided to release them the day after their arrest under “restrictive conditions of house arrest” for five days, pending a thorough investigation of the incident.
The unusual death happened during a private party the couple hosted at their house in the town of Karmi Yosef, which is about 25 miles southeast of the city of Tel Aviv.
Mobile phone video from the scene shows floaties and water being sucked to the bottom, at the center of the pool, as people sitting by the poolside shout in Hebrew. A man is seen approaching the sinkhole, slips, and is almost pulled in before he backs away.
The police said the deceased 30-year-old was found following a search mission in which Israeli police, emergency crews, and the army took part.
So how in the world could this tragic death have been criminal negligence?