NATALIE ALLEN, CNN ANCHOR: In an instant, celebration turns to catastrophe in Jerusalem, the horror captured on videotape, as the floor of a party hall gives way. It was a wedding reception; the dance floor was packed. Authorities call what happened next the worst civil disaster in Israeli history. It is chilling to watch. At least two dozen people are dead, hundreds more injured, and with each passing hour, hope is fades in the search for any more survivors. CNN's Ben Wedeman is there.</s>BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Around-the-clock Israeli rescue workers search for signs of life after a wedding celebration turned into a catastrophe. The floor of the packed hall gave way under the weight of more than 600 revelers. More bodies emerge from the rubble. Officials say it could be days before the death toll is known. The bride and the groom survived. These rescue workers are veterans of bombing disasters both at home and abroad. They pitched in to find survivors f the devastating earthquakes in Turkey, Greece and India, and in Nairobi, Kenya following the bombing of the United States embassy in 1998. Their frantic work here is made worse by the danger of falling debris.</s>SGT. OVADIA OVADIA, ARMY RESCUE UNIT: I think the feeling between -- among the people we're working under was one of urgency and people working at a frantic rate, you know; there's always the background of hope that somebody is still alive and life could be rescued.</s>WEDEMAN: Israel's chief rabbi has ruled that those involved in the recovery effort will be exempted from observing the Jewish Sabbath's ban on work. (on camera): Officials point to substandard construction and overcrowding as two possible causes for the catastrophe. Just hours after the disaster, the first funerals. Sorrow on a day that should have been one of celebrations. Ben Wedeman, CNN, Jerusalem.
Rescue Work Continues After Building Collapse in Jerusalem