Nitzan Goichman, 39, a mother of three and a chemical engineer, was identified Wednesday as one of two laboratory employees who collapsed and died at the Ashdod Oil Refinery.
Goichman, who lived in Ashdod, was working in the refinery’s laboratory when she and another employee, a 51-year-old woman whose name has not been released, collapsed.
The scene of the incident at the Ashdod Oil Refinery
(Video: Tomer Shunem Halevy)
Investigators are examining the possibility that the two women were wearing sealed protective suits and suffered oxygen deprivation due to a malfunction, the circumstances of which remain unclear.
Police said all possible lines of inquiry are being considered, including potential criminal negligence. At this stage, authorities said, there is no concrete evidence pointing to criminal conduct and no indication of a security-related incident.
Fire and rescue crews and police units were dispatched to the scene and ruled out a hazardous materials leak or any danger to the public or other refinery employees. Ariel Even Danan, commander of the Ashdod district fire and rescue station, said at the scene: “This is unequivocally not a hazardous materials incident.”
The refinery said in a statement that a “serious safety incident” occurred in its laboratory Wednesday morning.
“As a result of the incident, and for reasons not yet clarified, two laboratory employees were critically hurt, and after resuscitation efforts at the scene by Magen David Adom teams, their deaths were pronounced,” the company said. It added that it had followed protocol and notified all relevant authorities, and that it was supporting the families during what it described as a difficult time.
The Ashdod refinery spans about 1,000 dunams, roughly 250 acres, employs some 400 workers and produces about 40% of the gasoline and cooking gas consumed in Israel.
The last fatal accident at the facility occurred in January 2013, when two workers, Michael Bliakhov, 35, and Moshe Tal, 38, died after inhaling hydrogen sulfide while repairing a malfunction without protective equipment.
The deaths come a day after the Environmental Protection Ministry announced its intention to fine the refinery 32 million shekels, about $10.25 million, over alleged air pollution violations. The refinery said it would appeal the decision and denied the allegations. It is not the first time the company has been fined for air pollution offenses.
Last month, the Histadrut, Israel’s national labor federation, declared a labor dispute with the refinery, a step that could have allowed workers to strike as early as Thursday.