Second worker dies after explosion at Intel's Kiryat Gat fab
Technology
Thursday, October 15, 2026
· Updated Oct 15, 2026 05:56
A second worker has died of injuries from Wednesday's explosion at Intel's Fab 28 plant in Kiryat Gat, Israel, where police suspect a gas cylinder detonated during a delivery transfer and the fire involved a leak of toxic nitrogen trifluoride.
Why it matters: Fab 28 is one of Intel's key processor plants, and a fatal accident during a routine gas delivery puts the site's hazardous materials handling under investigation even though police have found no sign of criminal conduct and no production impact has been reported.
Data as of Thursday, October 15, 2026, 05:56 ET. CTech report read in full; Tom's Hardware carried the same facts in the morning feed scan. Casualty details are from Soroka Medical Center and Israel's Fire and Rescue Authority as reported.
A 49 year old worker died on Thursday at Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba from injuries sustained in Wednesday’s explosion at Intel’s Kiryat Gat fabrication plant, bringing the death toll to two. A gas technician was pronounced dead on Wednesday, and a third worker, a man in his twenties, remains in serious condition in intensive care, sedated and on a ventilator.
Police suspect a gas cylinder exploded during unloading operations at the plant entrance, as one delivery truck disconnected and a second connected to transfer gas into the facility’s tanks. The blast sparked a fire and a leak of nitrogen trifluoride, a nonflammable but toxic gas used to clean chipmaking tools; hazardous materials teams monitored the site and authorities later said the threat to nearby residents had been removed. Investigators have identified no suspected criminal activity at this stage, and Intel has not reported any effect on production at Fab 28.
Sources
- Two dead after explosion at Intel's Kiryat Gat facility · CTech (Calcalist) · 2026-10-15
- Two killed, one seriously hurt in explosion at Intel's chip plant in Israel · Tom's Hardware · 2026-10-15