The burnt mitzvah tank
The burnt mitzvah tankChabad

A Chabad "mitzvah tank" went up in flames in central Tel Aviv on Wednesday during a public reading of Megillat Esther for the Purim holiday, but in a miraculous turn of events no one was harmed.

Around 40 people were inside the "tank" at the time, but they managed to escape the burning vehicle unscathed - incredibly sets of tefilin (phylacteries) and talitot (prayer shawls) in the vehicle also were found whole in the burnt out vehicle after the fire.

Rabbi David Nachshon, CEO of the Chabad Mitzvah Mobiles, said, "the merit of those conducting the operations of the rebbe (Rabbi Menachem Schneerson - ed.) saved them."

"We merited a miracle from the rebbe. The damage was enormous, now we're raising the money to obtain an alternate tank," he added.

The fire was caused by the hot weather combined with a malfunction in the vehicle's generator, which set the engine on fire.