Gas explosion and fire in Eilat shop injures two, one with burns

Two people were hurt when gas ignited inside a shop in the southern Israeli city of Eilat, causing an explosion and a fire. Magen David Adom, Israel's national emergency medical service, said its Negev region dispatch centre received a call at 14:04 about a gas canister that had apparently exploded at a business on Derech Paamei HaShalom. Its medics and paramedics treated a man of about 30 for burns to his arms and legs and took him to Yoseftal Hospital in a moderate condition. A second person was examined at the scene and described as lightly injured.

Ynet reported that the fire broke out in the shop following a gas leak and that it left two people injured, one moderately and one lightly. N12 reported that firefighting and rescue crews were working at the site, that the leak came from a gas storage tank inside the shop, and that police officers had arrived. Shortly afterwards, N12 relayed a police request for the public to keep away from the area and to follow officers' instructions.

Who responded

Magen David Adom, usually shortened to MDA, is Israel's equivalent of a national ambulance and paramedic service and is the country's member society of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. Its emergency line is 101, and calls are handled by regional dispatch centres; Eilat falls under its Negev region, which covers the country's large and sparsely populated south. MDA's own account is the source for the casualty details: the age of the moderately injured man, the nature of his burns and the hospital he was taken to.

Fire and rescue teams, which in Israel operate under a national fire and rescue service, handled the blaze itself, according to N12. Police attended the scene and, as reported by N12, issued the call for people to stay clear. N12's first report carried a photograph credited to the police spokesperson's unit.

Where it happened

Eilat sits at the southern tip of Israel on the Gulf of Aqaba, the northern arm of the Red Sea, and is best known as a resort city whose economy rests heavily on tourism. Yoseftal Hospital is the city's main hospital and the nearest major medical facility for residents and visitors in the area.

The reports describe the location in slightly different terms. MDA placed the incident at a business on Derech Paamei HaShalom, a road in the city. The police request carried by N12 referred to the gas canister explosion on the tayelet, the Hebrew word for a promenade, which in Eilat usually means the seafront walkway lined with shops and restaurants. The reports do not say whether these refer to the same spot described in two ways or whether one of them is imprecise.

How the reports describe the cause

All three organisations link the incident to gas, but they word it differently. MDA said a gas canister had probably exploded, framing that as a likely explanation rather than a confirmed one. Ynet described a fire that started after a gas leak. N12 said the leak came from a gas storage tank inside the shop, while the police message it relayed spoke of a gas canister explosion. None of the reports cites an investigator's finding, so the exact sequence, whether a leak led to an explosion that then started a fire, has not been officially set out.

What the reports do not say

• No official cause has been announced, and none of the reports says whether the fire service or police have opened an investigation into how the gas escaped.
• The name and type of the business have not been reported, nor whether the injured were staff, customers or passers-by.
• There is no update on the condition of the man taken to Yoseftal Hospital beyond his initial moderate assessment.
• The reports do not say whether neighbouring premises were damaged, evacuated or closed, or how long the police restriction on the area remained in place.