A fire which swept through the Aviv matza bakery in the religious township of Bnei Brak Monday sent two firemen to the hospital for treatment for smoke inhalation and destroyed more than 100,000 packages of matza intended for export.
The bakery is one of the three run by the Aviv company and, according to its spokesman, the fire will not affect Passover supplies. Aviv provides about 60 percent of Israel’s matzot and its packages are a familiar sight in American supermarkets during the Passover season.
According to the fire department, the blaze was caused by an electric short-circuit. It raged for hours and was still smouldering Tuesday morning. Ten fire companies fought the conflagration which forced a diversion of traffic from the main highway between Petach Tikva and Tel Aviv that runs through Bnei Brak.
Electric power was cut off for hours in nearby Pardess Katz and parts of Bnei Brak. Residents of buildings near the burning factory were evacuated to hotels in Tel Aviv.
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