Two workers have been killed, and another was seriously injured, following an explosion at Intel’s Kiryat Gat chip fabrication facility in Israel.

All three victims suffered burns from the blast, with two ultimately succumbing to their wounds. The third employee remains in hospital, sedated and on a ventilator, Soroka Medical Center said in a statement.

According to reports from The Times of Israel and CTech, police suspect the explosion resulted from a gas cylinder malfunctioning whilst it was being unloaded from a truck, with Israel’s Fire and Rescue Services stating that following the blast, a nitrogen trifluoride (NF3) leak occurred.

Nitrogen trifluoride is a toxic gas primarily used in semiconductor manufacturing for cleaning and etching silicon wafers. NF3 is non-flammable but can be highly dangerous if inhaled.

In a statement to DCD, Intel said: "We are deeply saddened by the loss of two workers following the tragic incident at our Kiryat Gat site. Our thoughts are with their families, friends and colleagues during this difficult time, and we hope for a full recovery for the third worker who was injured. We continue to cooperate fully with the authorities investigating the incident and remain focused on supporting the families and those affected."

Intel has been operating in Israel since 1974 and currently has four development and production sites in the country, including the Fab 28 facility in Kiryat Gat, which produces chips on Intel 7 process nodes.

At the start of 2024, Intel announced it had secured a $3.2 billion grant from the Israeli government to expand its chip manufacturing plant in the city but paused the planned expansion in June of that same year.

DCD's sympathies go out to the family and friends of the victims.