(JTA) — A 14-year-old boy was found dead after falling from the roof of his four-story school in the West Bank settlement of Alfei Menashe.
The caretaker of Tzofei Hasharon junior high school found the boy’s body early Friday morning and called an ambulance, the news site NRG reported.
According to the online edition of the Israeli daily Haaretz, police believe the boy committed suicide by plunging to his death from the roof.
The news site Walla reported that police are looking into the possibility that the boy fell to his death after inhaling freon gas from an air conditioning unit on the school’s roof. Over the past decade, approximately 20 Israeli youths died from inhaling the toxic compound. Some of the youths were poisoned, while others died in accidents while trying to reach air conditioning units.
The Israel Anti-Drug Authority estimates that 60,000 to 80,000 youths in Israel inhale freon every year.
