Car explodes in Ashdod, one dead, one injured

A car exploded in Ashdod Tuesday evening, killing one person and inflicting moderate injuries to a second.

Police and firefighters were at the scene, and confirmed that one of the passengers was killed in the explosion. The second suffered moderate-to-light burns and shrapnel injuries and was taken to Kaplan Hospital for treatment.

The incident took place on the corner of Rogazin and Shapira streets in the southern port city around 8:30 p.m. Preliminary investigations by the police found an explosive device hidden on the vehicle. The circumstances of the incident were under investigation, but police reportedly suspect that the blast was connected to underworld criminal groups.

Magen David Adom paramedics said the injured man was in his 30s, but no information about the man killed in the blast was released immediately.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Qv9jCSjA2A

Paramedic Haim Levine who lives near to the scene said he heard an explosion and hurried to the window to find out what had happened. When he saw the badly damaged car he ran down to the street to help but by then the vehicle was in flames.

“A man in his 30’s got out of the car by himself,” Levine said.

Ambulance crews treated the injured man for burns and shrapnel wounds and then evacuated him to the hospital.

“When it was possible to get close to the car we could make out a man without signs of life and we could only pronounce him dead,” he said.

A spokesperson for Kaplan Hospital in Rehovot said that the injured man was admitted while conscious and suffered moderate injuries on various parts of his body. He was undergoing treatment in the hospital’s trauma ward.