An explosion blasted apart a car in Petach Tikva early Monday morning, killing 2 and leaving 4 injured. While police are still investigating the exact circumstances of the explosive device, they are certain criminal activity is behind the event.
The blast reportedly took place at 4:15 a.m. between Hameginim and Golomb streets in the residential heart of Petach Tikva.
Magen David Adom (MDA) emergency medical forces were called to the scene where they treated the 4 who were wounded by shrapnel and flying debris. Among the injured was a 3-year-old girl.
Police are considering whether the blast was the assassination of criminals, or a "work accident" in which criminals transporting explosives had their handiwork literally back-fire on them. The investigation was transferred over to Central Unit police.
Mako reports that the car's owner was brought in for investigation by the Petach Tikva police, where he claimed to have lent the car to others, while refusing to give details about who those others specifically were.
"At 4:13 a.m. we at MDA got a call about a blast being heard," said Zachi Heller, a spokesperson for the organization. "One of our emergency care vehicles was 2 streets away from there and within a minute was on the scene. Medics found a car on fire and destruction from nearby cars and shattered windows."
The wounded treated on the scene by medics included a 20-year-old woman suffering from glass cuts, and a 30-year-old couple with their 3-year-old daughter who likewise received cuts to their faces and foreheads from glass that shattered into their ground-floor apartment.
An eye-witness to the blast living on the sixth floor described the event: "there was a huge boom. I heard someone screaming from pain and then the prayer 'shema Yisrael.' ...This is a very quiet neighborhood with very good residents," added the witness, noting her fear following the attack.