JERUSALEM (Reuters) -- A lighting tower collapsed during a rehearsal on Wednesday for Israel's main Independence Day ceremony, killing a woman and injuring about a dozen other people, an emergency service and witnesses said.

There was no immediate indication from Israeli officials that the incident was anything but an accident.

Witnesses said a metal lighting rig came crashing down while soldiers were rehearsing at the plaza in Mount Herzl cemetery in Jerusalem where a state ceremony marking the creation of Israel will be held next week.

The Magen David ambulance service said a woman was pronounced dead at the scene and about 12 other people were hurt, one of them seriously.