Israel Police arrested a man accused of manslaughter via negligence on Monday, in connection with the two women killed on February 11 at a chemical refinery in Ashdod.
The incident was initially classified as a workplace accident. The two victims were employees at the refinery, and their deaths are linked to contact with oxygen cannisters in their place of work. The refinery, employing some 400 workers, is responsible for around 40% of Israel’s fuel and cooking gas.
The suspect arrested on Monday is a partner in the company that supplies the oxygen tanks to the Ashdod refinery.
Although the exact cause of the women's deaths is still unknown, early reports suggested that a malfunction in their oxygen suits may have been to blame. Another theory was linked to a flaw in the oxygen cannisters themselves - rather than their contents - even though they had already been used successfully in the past.
According to the latest report, the tanks are suspected to have contained nitrogen.
Police emphasized that the investigation is ongoing and will require in-depth research and questioning of several witnesses and experts.
Nitzan Goinchman and Irena Radchuk
The two women killed were identified as Nitzan Goinchman, 39, and Irena Radchuk, 52, according to Walla.
They were found unconscious in the refinery lab on February 11 and pronounced dead at the scene after medics were unable to resuscitate them.
Goinchman was a chemical engineer who is survived by her three young children. Radchuk was a laboratory technician who is survived by her spouse and daughter.
“When we arrived at the scene, we were directed to two women who were lying without a pulse and not breathing,” Magen David Adom MDA-United Hatzalah South volunteers Simcha Hassid and Moshe Dweck said.
“Together with additional Magen David Adom teams, we carried out prolonged resuscitation efforts, including chest compressions, administering medication, and ventilation. Sadly, despite our many efforts, an MDA paramedic was forced to pronounce them dead.”