Two workers have been killed and another seriously injured at Intel's Kiryat Gat fab in Israel in an explosion resulting from a gas cylinder malfunctioning (CTech)

An explosion at Intel's Kiryat Gat manufacturing plant in Israel claimed the lives of two workers on Wednesday, leaving another man in critical condition. One of the fatalities, a 49-year-old gas technician, succumbed to his injuries at Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba despite extensive resuscitation efforts. The second victim, a gas technician, was pronounced dead on the scene.

A third individual, a man in his 20s, remains in serious condition at Soroka's medical intensive care unit, where he is sedated and connected to a ventilator. Police believe the blast resulted from a gas cylinder malfunctioning during the unloading of trucks at the southern Israeli facility. The explosion caused a fire and a leak of nitrogen trifluoride (NF₃), a nonflammable but toxic gas that poses serious health risks if inhaled.

Hazardous materials teams have been monitoring the situation closely to assess the danger posed by the gas leak. Authorities have since declared the threat to nearby residents has been eliminated. However, investigators are still determining whether criminal activity or negligence was responsible for the incident. Intel's local police commander, Shai Aleli, stated that no suspicion of criminal activity or negligence has been raised at the moment.

"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."