Twenty people were evacuated Wednesday night from Hanegev Street in the northern city of Haifa, after a fire broke out in the courtyard of a residential building, Behadrey Haredim reported.
The initial report claimed that the fire was in the building itself, but upon firefighters' arrival at the scene, it became clear that the blaze was in the courtyard, and not in an apartment.
Magen David Adom (MDA) paramedics provided medical care to 20 victims. Eighteen of the victims had suffered mild injuries, while the other two were moderately injured, all of them from smoke inhalation.
According to the report, the victims were evacuated to three different hospitals in the city: The two in moderate condition and nine of those in mild condition were brought to Rambam Health Care Campus, five of those in mild condition were brought to Bnai Zion Medical Center, and the remaining four who were in mild condition were brought to Carmel Medical Center.
A fire investigator who arrived at the scene believes that the blaze was sparked by an electric bicycle's lithium battery, Behadrey Haredim noted.
Israel's Fire and Rescue Services said, "Recently, we have seen many especially serious instances of fires which break out due to the litihium batteries of electric vehicles."
"Lithium batteries are dangerous. Please use only the original batteries, try to store them outside your home, and while charging, do not leave them unsupervised. Protect your lives."