Two dead after explosion at Intel’s Kiryat Gat facility
The death toll from an explosion at Intel’s manufacturing facility in Kiryat Gat rose to two on Thursday after a 49-year-old man died of his injuries at Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba.
The man was evacuated from the scene on Wednesday in serious condition with multiple injuries, the hospital said. He died despite prolonged resuscitation efforts.
A gas technician at the facility was pronounced dead on Wednesday after being critically injured in the blast. A third victim, a man in his 20s, remains in serious condition in Soroka’s medical intensive care unit. He is sedated and on a ventilator.
Police suspect the explosion was caused by a gas cylinder that detonated during the unloading of trucks at the southern Israeli facility.
The blast sparked a fire and a leak of nitrogen trifluoride (NF₃), a nonflammable but toxic gas that poses serious risks if inhaled. Hazardous materials teams conducted continuous monitoring and risk assessments to evaluate the danger posed by the leak. Authorities later said the threat to nearby residents had been removed.
Kiryat Gat police commander Shai Aleli said investigators had yet to determine whether criminal activity or negligence was involved.
“At this point, I can’t point to any suspicion of criminal activity or negligence,” Aleli said at the scene. “We understand that one truck unloaded material into tanks at the factory. After it disconnected and a second truck connected, the explosion occurred. We understand there was a malfunction.”
