On the afternoon of October 14th local time, an explosion occurred at the wafer factory of the US chip manufacturer Intel in the Kiriyaat Gatlabin industrial park in southern Israel, injuring three workers and causing the leakage of hazardous substances in the factory area.
On the afternoon of October 14, 2026 local time, an explosion occurred at the wafer factory of the American chip manufacturer Intel in Kiryat Gat, southern Israel, at the Rabin Industrial Park. Three workers were injured, two of whom were in critical condition. The incident also led to the leakage of hazardous substances in the factory area. The Israeli fire, police, and environmental protection departments have intervened to handle the situation. The fire has been extinguished at the scene, and no evacuation of nearby residents has been ordered.
Accident details and casualties
The fire and rescue department in the southern region of Israel stated that at 14:12 on the 14th, the dispatch center received a report that there was thick black smoke and explosions coming from the Rabin Industrial Park in Kiryat Gat. The Ashkelon regional fire station and additional forces rushed to the scene, deploying a total of 8 fire rescue teams, including specialized units for handling hazardous substances.
The Israeli national emergency medical service, Magen David Adom (MDA), reported that the three injured were sent to Soroka Medical Center:
A man in his 50s, who remained in a critical and unstable condition after cardiopulmonary resuscitation, had burns on his upper body and required sedation and ventilator support;
A man in his 30s, who was also critically and unstable, had extensive burns and required sedation and ventilator support;
A man in his 20s, who was seriously injured but in stable condition, had burns on his upper body.
The on-site rescue personnel said that one of the injured had received electric shock rescue during the transfer and regained a heartbeat.
The cause of the explosion and the hazardous substances
The police stated that the explosion was suspected to be related to the unloading operation of a truck carrying trifluoromethane (NF₃): The explosion occurred after the first truck disconnected and the second truck was replaced. Some reports also mentioned that the ignition cause might involve gas cylinders or equipment failure. The specific cause is still under investigation. The police said that no criminal or negligent suspicion has been found and the incident has been ruled out as a terrorist attack or other hostile acts.
Trifluoromethane is a toxic gas used in semiconductor manufacturing. It has strong oxidizing properties and is not flammable by itself, but it may increase risks under high temperatures or specific conditions. Firefighters sprayed the affected area to cool it down and prevent re-ignition or secondary accidents. The Israeli Environmental Protection Department has dispatched personnel to assess the possible environmental impact.
As of the evening of October 14th to the early morning of October 15th, the Israeli Fire Department stated that the situation has been controlled and no further leakage signs have been found. Kiriath Gat Mayor also confirmed that the fire has been extinguished and public safety is assured, but called on the public not to go to the incident area.
Intel said: "Employee safety is our top priority. We have begun a thorough investigation into the incident situation."
Impact on chip supply and capital markets
Intel has two wafer fabrication plants in the Kiriat Gat complex:
Fab 28: A 300mm wafer fabrication plant, which started production in 2008. It mainly produces Intel 7 (approximately 10-nanometer level) processor chips and is the only advanced logic wafer fabrication plant in its Israeli business.
Fab 38: A project worth approximately $2.5 billion, planned for more advanced extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography technology. The project's engineering was frozen in June 2024 and has not yet started mass production.
Some media pointed the blame to Fab 28, while others mentioned Fab 38. Due to the fact that both plants are located in the same complex, the current public information has not yet fully unified the specific factory. There is also no authoritative information stating whether the explosion led to the停产 of Fab 28， the extent of damage to the production line， or the recovery time. Since Fab 28 is responsible for the production of Intel's processor chips， if the production line is confirmed to be damaged， it may affect Intel's manufacturing arrangements in Israel.
In terms of the capital market， on October 14th， Eastern Time， Intel's stock price dropped by approximately 4.56%， and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index dropped by 4.3%. However， the US stock market was under pressure overall， and the decline in the semiconductor sector was also affected by factors such as inflation data and interest rate expectations. It cannot be simply attributed to this explosion.
