One person passed away and nine people were injured as a result of carbon monoxide poisoning in a pizza shop in the Old City of Be’er Sheva on Thursday afternoon.

The incident was first believed to be a gas leak and was later identified as a case of carbon monoxide poisoning.

After receiving a report of a gas leak, Israel Fire and Rescue teams from the Be’er Sheva station, along with the station’s hazardous materials unit, rushed to the scene of the incident.

Shift commander Firefighter Ariel Revach said: “As soon as we arrived at the scene, we identified a number of casualties, some inside the pizza shop and some outside, with varying degrees of injury. We started monitoring operations and already in the first stages we detected a gas leak inside the store and elevated gas levels outside it as well.”

“I divided the teams, with one team monitoring, a second team donning special protective equipment and entering the pizza shop to provide help, and a third team shutting down the energy sources. After we closed the gas source to the store, the levels dropped and we are still monitoring the situation until the levels in and around the store drop significantly. An order was given to evacuate all people from the area.”

Meanwhile, MDA and Hatzlah paramedics began performing CPR on a man in his 60s who had lost consciousness and evacuated him to Soroka Hospital in critical condition while continuing resuscitation efforts. Eight others in mild condition and one man in his 30s in moderate condition were also evacuated to the hospital. Some of the paramedics reportedly began feeling ill as well as a result of breathing in the gas.

The man in his 60s was later pronounced dead in the hospital.

This is a developing story.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)