The Ashkelon Magistrate's Court on Tuesday extended by six days the detention of Yaakov Kobi Salem, a partner in the company that supplied medical air cylinders to the Ashdod refinery.
The incident claimed the lives of engineers Irina Radchuk and Nitzan Govichman.
Police sought a seven-day extension of Salem’s detention on suspicion of murder by indifference. According to the Ministry of Labor, the oxygen cylinders supplied to the engineers were found to contain 100 percent nitrogen.
At the hearing, a police representative said investigators had opened a criminal probe and identified Salem as one of the managers of the Yaakov Salem and Sons factory. “The suspect has already given a statement, and the investigation must continue," the representative said. “What he did was in violation of the law and showed complete disregard."
In his decision, Judge Yaniv Ben-Harush ruled that there was sufficient cause to extend the detention, though for a shorter period than requested, noting that the suspect has no prior criminal record.