Two seriously hurt in car blast in Lod, in suspected criminal incident

Two people were seriously injured in a car blast late Sunday night in the central city of Lod, in what police suspect was an incident of a criminal nature and not terrorism.

Police said they opened an investigation into the bombing in which three people were injured, the third person lightly. The trio was traveling in the car at the time of the explosion, according to preliminary findings.

The intended targets of the attack are connected to a prominent crime family in the city, a report from the Kan public broadcaster said. It added that the group was traveling in a reinforced vehicle, a fact that Kan said likely contributed to the group’s survival.

Magen David Adom medics said they received a call after midnight on Sunday reporting that a car had exploded while traveling down Micha Reisser Boulevard in Lod, a mixed Arab-Jewish city in central Israel.

Videos from the scene show a vehicle engulfed in flames, as people stand nearby.

Medics who arrived at the scene said they found two men in their 30s lying outside the vehicle, fully conscious and with multiple systemic injuries. The two were listed in serious condition and were taken to the Shamir Medical Center, also known as Assaf Harofeh Hospital, in Beer Yaakov for treatment.

“When we arrived at the scene there was a commotion, we saw a destroyed car that was on fire,” MDA medic Mandi Amitai said in a statement. “Two men, about 30 years old, were lying outside the car. They were fully conscious and suffered multi-system damage, we quickly treated them in the field and urgently transferred them to the hospital as they were in serious condition.”

Police said officers at the scene began an investigation into the circumstances “of what appears to be a criminal incident.”