Intel plant reports suspected gas leak less than a week after fatal explosion
Employees were reportedly told to shelter in place after monitoring systems detected a nitrogen trifluoride leak at the Kiryat Gat facility. The incident followed an explosion last week that killed two workers and left a third hospitalized in serious condition.
Less than a week after a nitrogen tank explosion at Intel’s plant in Kiryat Gat that killed two workers, a suspected hazardous materials leak was reported at the same facility on Monday morning. Employees reported being instructed to shelter in place inside the plant.
Israel Fire and Rescue Services said it had received a report through its 102 emergency dispatch center that employees had detected a hazardous materials leak at the Intel facility. Fire and rescue crews from the Ashkelon station were at the scene, while specialized hazardous materials units were dispatched to investigate.
Two Intel employees, Ilya Chechulin, 49, and Yakir Kosashvili, 35, were killed in an explosion at the plant last week. A third employee, a man in his twenties, was injured and hospitalized in serious condition in the internal medicine intensive care unit at Soroka Medical Center. He was reported to be sedated and on a ventilator.
According to Fire and Rescue Services, the earlier explosion was likely caused by a technical failure involving the rupture of a tank neck on a vessel containing eight tons of nitrogen trifluoride. The incident was described as rare, and it remains unclear whether the failure resulted from wear and tear or could have been prevented.
“The teams are monitoring the source of the substance, working to stabilize the situation, and taking samples of the hazardous material,” the service said. It added that the incident was contained within the plant grounds and posed no danger to local residents. No casualties had been reported at the time of the statement.
Intel said the leak was detected by its monitoring systems during preparations to remove gas tanks from the Kiryat Gat plant. The company identified the substance as nitrogen trifluoride (NF₃) and said it was working in full coordination with emergency services and the relevant authorities to address the incident.
