Blast and fire at Intel’s Kiryat Gat chip plant leave three seriously hurt

Three people were seriously injured when an explosion and fire hit Intel’s chip factory in Kiryat Gat in southern Israel. Police suspect a gas cylinder caused the blast.

An explosion followed by a fire tore through Intel’s semiconductor plant in the southern Israeli city of Kiryat Gat on Wednesday afternoon, seriously injuring three people. Fire crews were called at 2:12 p.m. local time after reports of a blast and thick black smoke.

According to the Magen David Adom emergency service, all three injured are men with burns. Two of them, in their 30s and 50s, are in serious, unstable condition and were sedated and intubated, while the third, aged 26, is in serious but stable condition. One of the men was resuscitated on the way to hospital, and one was taken to Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba.

Nitrogen trifluoride leak

Israel’s Fire and Rescue Authority said the incident involved nitrogen trifluoride, a non-flammable gas used in chipmaking that is toxic when inhaled. Eight teams, including hazardous-materials specialists, worked to bring the fire under control and search for anyone trapped inside.

Police said a gas cylinder was the suspected cause and that the incident was not linked to hostile activity. Kiryat Gat Mayor Kfir Suissa said the fire had been fully extinguished and posed no danger to the public, asking residents to keep away so rescuers could work. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with the head of Magen David Adom about the condition of the wounded.

Intel’s manufacturing campus in Kiryat Gat (file photo)

Intel has not yet issued a detailed statement. The Kiryat Gat campus houses Fab 28, which produces processors and other chips and is one of the company’s most important manufacturing sites in Israel. It sits next to Fab 38, built to expand Intel’s advanced manufacturing capacity.