11-year-old boy dies in Ashdod fire likely started by charging battery

An 11-year-old boy died after his family’s apartment caught on fire on Saturday night, according to emergency services.

Hebrew media identified the boy as Lee-Yam Nahum on Sunday morning.

“Lee-Yam was a smiley boy who brought joy to his mother. There are no words to describe this disaster, it’s difficult to process,” Nahum’s aunt, Paula, told Ynet.

“Fire and rescue teams were dispatched to the scene and identified flames from inside a building with risk of people trapped inside,” the Fire and Rescue Services said on Saturday night.

“The firefighters immediately began entering the building and searching for trapped people in the burning apartment, and during an initial scan, one person was found and rescued from the flames and passed over to medical forces at the scene.”

After resuscitation attempts failed, Magen David Adom declared the boy dead.

לי-ים בן ה-11 נספה בשרפה באשדוד, החשד: סוללת אופניים חשמליים התלקחה והציתה את הדירה | כל הפרטיםhttps://t.co/tLsdC0w1gX | @shapira_nitzan pic.twitter.com/tmdSNJWEkD

— החדשות – N12 (@N12News) May 26, 2024

An MDA medic also said that a woman in her 40s was treated for smoke inhalation at the scene and taken to the hospital in moderate condition. Local publication Ashdod Net identified the woman as Nahum’s mother.

After an initial probe, investigators said they believed the fire had been started by an electric bicycle battery that was being charged in the apartment. The investigation is ongoing.