intensive care unit at Tel Aviv Medical Centre, wondered whether a toxin might be the culprit behind the infections. He contacted David Pargament, chief of the Yarkon River Authority, who explained that 36 hours before the collapse, mosquito larvicide oil, a mixture of jet fuel and oil, had been sprayed on the surface of the Yarkon to suppress mosquitoes. Subsequent lab tests, however, found no traces of the substance in the sick athletes. Bowler Yetty Bennett, 50, died later that day from asphyxia. Elizabeth Sawicki, 47, a member of the delegation's bridge team, died July 26 from complications from infection. Bowler Warren Zines, 54, died on August 10, 1997, of severe respiratory-tract infection at Sheba Medical Center. Zines was the fourth and final fatality from the accident. An autopsy of Zines finally identified the source of the infections as the fungus Pseudallescheria boydii, a rare but serious cause of pneumonia and disseminated infection subsequent to near-drowning. This species of fungus, typically found in stagnant or polluted water, is resistant to nearly all available drug therapies. Disseminated infection can spread to the brain, kidneys, heart, and thyroid. After Zines' death, one athlete, tennis player Sasha Elterman, 15, remained in critical condition at Schneider Children's Medical Centre in Petah Tikva. Elterman underwent 18 surgeries in the six months after the collapse, 13 of them brain surgeries. In total, she received 28 brain surgeries and two lung operations. Elterman ultimately survived her ordeal, but her lungs permanently lost 40% of their capacity and she suffered from periodic convulsions. Ten other athletes who returned to Australia shortly after the accident were admitted to hospitals with respiratory problems, but recovered. Investigations Israel's deputy minister of education, Moshe Peled, immediately convened a public commission, chaired by Yishai Dotan, to investigate the collapse. Israel Police also conducted its own investigation. The Dotan Commission released its findings on the 23rd of July, 1997. The commission found that the Maccabiah Games' organising committee, led by Yoram Eyal, had departed from the usual practice of paying the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to construct the bridge. Instead, in an apparent effort to reduce costs, Eyal contracted with a company called Irgunit, headed by Adam Mishori, to construct the bridge. Irgunit's traditional business was the construction of props and stage sets for theatre productions. The company had never designed nor built a bridge. Irgunit sub-contracted the bridge's construction to Baruch Karagula and