At least 15 killed, dozens injured in Rishon Letzion blast

Tamara Traubman and Amit Ben Aroya, Ha'aretz Correspondents, Ha'aretz Service and agencies


Fifteen people were killed and 57 people injured when a suicide bomber blew up around 11:00 P.M on Tuesday night at the "Spiel Club" pool hall on Sakharov Street in Rishon Letzion, in the town's new industrial zone.

Eleven of the wounded were in serious condition, 10 sustained moderate injuries and the rest were lightly injured. Ronen Bishari, the deputy director of the Magen David Adom first-aid service said that most of the wounded had been hit by shrapnel or had suffered burns.

The injured were evacuated to the Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer, Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv, Holon's Wolfson Hospital, and Assaf Harofeh Hospital in Tel Aviv.

The blast occurred on the third floor of the building, causing part of the structure to collapse. The other floors of the building were apparently empty at the time of the blast.