14-year-old boy admits starting Israel's Carmel fires

[News_Editor]

14-year-old boy admits starting Israel's Carmel fires

2010-12-07 05:27:30 GMT+7 (ICT)

HAIFA, ISRAEL (BNO NEW) — A 14-year-old boy on Monday admitted to have accidentally started Israel's most devastating fire ever, which killed 41 people in the Carmel hills area after throwing a piece of burning coal into the forest, officials said.

The teenage boy, resident of Usfiya, was arrested early on Monday and admitted he had hurled the piece of coal from a Hookah water-pipe on Thursday morning. After noticing that a large fire had begun, the boy panicked, fled the scene, ran back to school, and did not report the incident to anyone.

The boy is now scheduled to appear in the Haifa Magistrate's Court on Tuesday morning for a hearing.

On Saturday, two teenage brothers of the Druze village of Isfiya, aged 14 and 15, were arrested on suspicion of igniting flammable material based on a Israeli Air Force drone film. On Monday, however, they were released.

In addition to the scores of people who have died in the northern region of Israel due to the fire, 50,000 dunams (12,355 acres) were destroyed.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2010-12-07

[geriatrickid]

I don't think that kid is going to be too popular in his community.