Two children killed in explosion in the south

Eight- and ten-year-old cousins pronounced dead near their tent in a Bedouin encampment; police investigating

Sue Surkes is The Times of Israel's environment reporter

Medics at the scene of an explosion that killed two children in a Negev encampment on Tuesday, April 25, 2017 (Magen David Adom)
Medics at the scene of an explosion that killed two children in a Negev encampment on Tuesday, April 25, 2017 (Magen David Adom)

Two children, cousins aged eight and 10, were killed Tuesday in an explosion near their tent home in a Bedouin encampment in the Negev.

Early reports said a generator exploded, causing the blast. Police were investigating the incident, which took place in a village near Nevatim, south of Beersheba, in southern Israel.

In November 2014, a three-year-old boy was killed and three others were hurt — one critically — when a fire broke out in a semi-permanent family home in the Bedouin village of Hura.

The Bedouin, who live mainly in the Negev Desert in southern Israel, are traditionally semi-nomadic, living in tents or tin structures.

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