An explosion at a metal factory in the Ashdod industrial zone Tuesday morning left two workers dead and others injured.
An initial investigation into the blast indicated that the two were welding when a malfunction of some sort caused a gas canister to explode.
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Police, firefighters, and medical first responders, as well as Labor Ministry accident investigators, were scrambled to the factory. The injured workers were treated at the scene.
The casualties were identified as two men in the 40s. Another man in his 40s was evacuated to Assuta Medical Center in Ashdod with abrasions to his limbs. A man who sustained minor injuries took himself in for treatment.
The Labor Ministry and the Ashdod Municipality were working to verify whether or not the facility had a valid license to hold certain materials on its premises.
