Three seriously injured in explosion at Intel’s Kiryat Gat plant
Magen David Adom teams reported three people seriously injured at the chipmaker’s southern Israel facility. The cause of the explosion was not immediately known.
Three people were seriously injured in an explosion at Intel’s manufacturing facility in Kiryat Gat on Wednesday.
Fire and Rescue Services reported that the fire following the explosion involves nitrogen trifluoride (NF₃), a non-flammable gas that is toxic and hazardous if inhaled. Magen David Adom (MDA) said the injured include a man in his 50s who is in serious, unstable condition with burns to his upper body and has been sedated and intubated; a man in his 30s who underwent resuscitation efforts and remains in serious, unstable condition, sedated and intubated with extensive burns; and a 26-year-old man in serious but stable condition with burns to his upper body.
Intel’s Kiryat Gat site is one of the company’s key manufacturing facilities in Israel. The site houses Fab 28, which manufactures processors and other chips, and is adjacent to Fab 38, a major expansion project intended to increase Intel’s advanced manufacturing capacity in the country. The company has invested billions of dollars in its Israeli operations, which are a significant part of its global manufacturing network.
Intel has not yet provided further details about the incident.
Fire and rescue crews were called to the Intel facility on Avatz Boulevard at 2:12 p.m. following reports of an explosion and heavy black smoke. Eight teams, including hazardous materials specialists, arrived at the scene to look for anyone who may have been trapped, bring the fire under control and assess the risk of exposure to dangerous substances.
Police in the Southern District said a gas cylinder may have triggered the blast.
