Three people were injured when a gas grenade went off unexpectedly inside the Foreign Ministry Building in Jerusalem on Sunday. The three injured people were maintenance workers in the building and suffered exposure to the gas.

According to souces inside the Ministry, the three were injured after one of the people began t o play with the grenade under the assumption that it was a dud. At somepoint, the worker pulled the  pin and unleashed the gas.

Just before 3:00 p.m. a surprising announcement sounded on the intercom of the building: “Security incident on the second floor, all staff are requested to remain inside their offices.” The pandemonium among the trapped workers hit it’s zenith as police cars and emergency ambulances rushed to the building.

The gas began to spread throughout the building and injured three maintenance workers who were in the storage room. The management of the building finally decided to cut the air conditioning inside the building that was causing the spread of the gas.

The Ministry Issued a statement a few hours after the incident and said that it was caused by a mechanical problem, but that the problem had been solved and that the Ministry had returned to regular schedule.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)