Last update - 00:00 31/01/2008
4 hurt, 2 seriously, in explosion at natural gas factory near J'lem
By Jonathan Lis, Haaretz Correspondent
At least four people were hurt, two of them seriously, in a large explosion at a factory in the Atarot industrial zone outside Jerusalem on Thursday.
The two remaining victims were lightly hurt in the blast.
Firefighting teams rushed to the factory, which produces and packages natural gas canisters, and attempted to douse the fire that erupted at the scene.
The four injured individuals were quickly located and received immediate medical care at the hand of emergency medical workers, and were later evacuated to the Hadassah University Hospital in Jerusalem where they were treated in the trauma ward.
Magen David Adom emergency medical service initially labeled the incident a "multi-victim event" and sent multiple ambulances to the scene, in part for fear that victims were still trapped under the rubble. The multi-victim status was later retracted when no further victims were found.
The Jerusalem police said it believed the explosion was a work-related accident and not intentional.
"The flames reached a height of 15 meters, the police removed people from the area for fear of another explosion," a witness said. "There is another large canister of gas on site that the emergency teams are dousing with water in efforts to prevent a second blast."
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