Netanya car explosion deemed suicide attempt

Police on Friday said an incident in which a vehicle exploded in Netanya was a suicide attempt, and not a criminal or terrorist attack as was previously reported.

The explosion, resulting in the severe injury of a 50-year-old man, took place early Friday in the southern part of the city. Medical teams who arrived at the scene treated the man for multiple burn wounds, then rushed him to Tel Hashomer hospital for emergency surgery.

A preliminary investigation conducted by police forces at the scene of the explosion indicated that the man had apparently poured gasoline over himself and lit himself on fire. Moments before the explosion, a police investigator said, the man phoned his girlfriend, wishing her “good luck in life.”

On Thursday, in an unrelated incident, an explosive device that detonated near a vehicle in Migdal HaEmek resulted in the death of one man. Forty-five year-old Moshe Portal, was immediately rushed to HaEmek Medical Center in Afula but was pronounced dead by a medical team shortly thereafter.

According to police investigators, the explosive device was attached to Portal’s car and was detonated while he was driving.

Police further uncovered that Portal had only recently been released from prison after serving a term for manslaughter. There are no suspects as of yet.