Police on Monday arrested a first suspect in connection with the disaster at the Ashdod oil refinery 12 days ago, in which engineers Nitzan Goichman and Irina Radchuk were killed, apparently from a lack of oxygen.
The suspect is a partner in a company that supplies medical air cylinders to the refinery. He is suspected of murder with indifference.
ynet reported two days after the disaster that investigators were examining suspicions that the cylinders supplied did not contain medical air, or that they contained additional substances that caused the two women to suffocate. The Labor Ministry’s Safety Administration subsequently updated clients of the company that supplied the cylinders to refineries, saying that cylinders had been identified that apparently did not contain oxygen.
Following the finding, Safety Administration chief Hezi Schwartzman instructed that the Health Ministry be notified immediately of all locations of the cylinders. At the same time, administration inspectors contacted all sites where the cylinders were identified. The activity is being coordinated with police, who have said that results from the autopsies at the National Institute of Forensic Medicine could take weeks.
The Health Ministry issued a notice to all health institutions calling for an immediate inspection of the contents of medical gas cylinders, with an emphasis on medical air and oxygen.
In its statement, the ministry said all cylinders must be checked immediately to ensure full consistency between the type of gas stamped on the cylinder, the cylinder’s color and the accompanying label indicating the type of gas and the supplying company. The ministry clarified that any cylinder for which there is a discrepancy or lack of clarity must be removed from use immediately. It also ordered the immediate removal from use of cylinders supplied by the company Salem Yaakov and Sons.
Ilan, Goichman’s partner, said Monday evening: “I am glad the investigation has finally progressed to an arrest of some kind. I hope the person arrested is responsible or that this will lead to further discoveries in the investigation. I would like to receive a final determination of the cause of death and the full chain of events, and how the cylinder that may have led to my wife’s death made its way to the laboratory. I very much hope this will not fall off the public agenda and will continue until the truth comes to light.”
Attorney Yarom Halevy, the detained suspect’s defense lawyer, said: “Unfortunately, I have a growing suspicion that from the beginning of the investigation the authorities have focused specifically on my client while neglecting other glaring investigative directions.”
Under Section 300 of the Penal Code, the offense of murder includes causing a person’s death with intent or with complete indifference to the possibility that the outcome would be fatal. The intent does not have to be long premeditated; even a momentary decision, if it reflects a willingness to cause death, may suffice.
The law states: “A person who causes the death of another with intent or indifference,” and does not require additional aggravating circumstances such as advance planning or particular cruelty. It is sufficient to establish the factual and mental elements that the act of killing was carried out with intent or indifference.