Two workers have died after a gas incident at Intel's Kiryat Gat plant in southern Israel, where the company makes its most advanced chips. The Verge, citing Jerusalem Post and CTech, says police believe a gas cylinder malfunctioned while trucks were loading material into tanks Wednesday, causing serious burns and a leak of nitrogen trifluoride (NF₃).
Israeli outlets identified the victims as Ilya Chechulin, 49, and Yakir Kosashvili, 35. A third Intel employee, a man in his 20s, remains hospitalized in serious condition. Fire and rescue investigators say preliminary findings point to the neck of a high-pressure tank holding about eight tons of NF₃ failing and releasing the gas with force; NF₃ is not flammable but is toxic if inhaled.
Intel said it was deeply saddened by the deaths, wished the injured worker a full recovery, and is cooperating with the investigation. Authorities later said the threat to nearby residents had been cleared. The plant is one of Intel's key manufacturing sites, and the deaths add to a short list of recent fab-worker fatalities the industry has struggled to keep rare.
— via The Verge