Car blast kills four in Israel : Medic, police

Four people were killed and eight injured when a vehicle exploded in the central Israeli city of Ramla on Thursday in an apparent gangland hit, medics and police said.

Liad Aviel, spokesman for the Asaf Harofe Medical Center in central Israel, said it “mourns the deaths of four individuals injured in the Ramla incident”, adding that six other casualties were receiving treatment there.

The Israeli police said it had launched an investigation into the cause of the explosion which was suspected to be linked to “a criminal conflict between crime families in the Arab neighborhood.”

Israel’s emergency medical service Magen David Adom said the vehicle “exploded while parked on the sidewalk near a store and residential building” in Ramla.

“As a result of the explosion, several passersby were injured by the blast and shrapnel,” rescue worker Benny Cohen said in a statement.