Fire teams rescue 15-year-old stuck on crane over high-rise building in Jerusalem

A teenager is seen trapped on a crane platform atop a skyscraper, where he dangled 36 stories up in the air for seven hours before being rescued, in Jerusalem Monday, Nov. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

JERUSALEM — Fire teams on Monday rescued a teenager who was stuck dangling for seven hours from a crane hanging 36 stories above Jerusalem.

The 15-year-old boy told rescue teams that he had climbed up the crane around midnight because he wanted to “see the view,” according to Israel’s Fire and Rescue Service.

Videos showed the teen trapped on a tiny platform connecting metal cables and the crane’s hook hanging precariously over a high-rise building.

Fire teams arrived in the morning and scaled the side of the crane, after being alerted by a bystander who saw the boy, and pulled him to safety. Eyal Cohen, a fire official, said it was one in a number of cases in which young people in the city have been caught scaling tall buildings.

“This is a serious incident that ended in a miracle,” Cohen said.

The Associated Press