Electric Car Crash Sparks Fire, Killing Driver in Underground Garage

A man died yesterday after his electric vehicle crashed and caught fire in an underground parking garage in Rishon LeZion. Investigators believe the Zeekr electric car was traveling at a high speed, estimated at around 100 km/h (62 mph), when it collided with a wall on the first basement level of the garage. The impact is thought to have caused the battery to ignite, rather than a battery malfunction. The fire quickly spread to other vehicles parked nearby.

The blaze erupted around 11:30 PM in the two-level underground garage located beneath a 20-story residential building on Ahi Lahaב Street. Heavy smoke rapidly filled the garage and began to spread into the building, prompting residents to remain in their apartments and leading to a power outage.

Seventeen fire trucks and 34 firefighters responded to the scene and battled the blaze for approximately three hours. During their search, firefighters discovered a man inside one of the burning vehicles. They extricated him from the heavy smoke and handed him over to medical personnel. After the fire was extinguished and the incident brought under control, the man was pronounced dead at the scene.