A controlled detonation by Israeli Military Industries caused alarm in Beersheba, when residents heard an unexpected bang and saw smoke rising on the outskirts of the Negev city Wednesday, two days after an accidental blast in a Ramat Hovav factory caused a chemical fire in the area.
Many residents told Ynet of a large cloud of smoke visible through windows that had been rattled by the blast. After calling authorities in alarm and discovering the source of the explosion was an IMI test-run, they protested that they had not been warned of the experiment.
"I didn't believe it," said one Be'ersheba woman. "It was such a loud blast. All of our windows shook and I held on to the walls out of fear."
Other, more 'experienced' Be'ersheba residents, however, said such controlled detonations are routine for the city, which is neighbored by IMI's factory in Ramat Bekaa.
"We know that IMI has such routine detonations," said an employee of the Ramat Hovav industrial council. "It's usually the controlled destruction of expired ordnance. We didn't hear anything extraordinary and saw nothing. There's no panic."
The blast in Ramat Hovav on Monday set many residents on edge and reopened debates about the danger of having so many sensitive industries near a large population center. Specifically, it replanted reservations about the planned established of a large military complex in the area.
But Environment Minister Gidon Ezra dismissed renewed complaints about the possible hazardousness of such a complex, saying "it's more dangerous in Be'ersheba than in the planned 'military city'."