Pipe carrying hydrochloric acid explodes at pumping facility near Ein Yahav; Police, Magen David Adom rescue services on the scene; roads in area closed to traffic.
One person was killed and nine others were injured on Monday after a blast occurred during maintenance work on a Mekorot drilling facility in the central Arava region. The nine include one person in critical condition; three in serious condition and five others who were lightly wounded.
Magen David Adom reported that the blast occurred nine kilometers south of Ein Yahav.
The circumstances behind the event are unclear as of yet. It appears that workers doing routine work used pipes that were carrying hydrochloric acid and were affected by the substance after a blast occurred.
Ambulances and two IDF helicopters as well as Environmental Protection Ministry teams were dispatched to the site. The wounded, in their 50s, were treated at the scene and rushed to the Sorokoa Medical Center in Beersheba. Route 90 was sealed off for approximately two hours following the event.
The explosion does not pose any threat to residents of the surrounding area, the Environmental Protection Ministry said.
Noam Carmeli, the Central Arava Regional Council's security officer, arrived at the scene of the blast and said that the explosion occurred on a drilling facility. He reported that at least three ambulances were treating the wounded.
MDA Director-General Eli Bin expressed sorrow over the event's tragic outcomes. "This event must be examined and studied and lessons must be drawn," he said.
The Health Ministry said, "Hydrochloric acid is dangerous to anyone who comes in contact with it and leaves a burn."
Last year, a major gas leak occurred on the Eilat-Ashkelon pipeline following renovation work near the Zin nature reserve.
Raviv Shapira, southern director at the Nature and Parks Authority, estimated at the time that the leak caused serious ecological damage to the nature reserve and the wadi.
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