Tragedy in Jerusalem: Special-needs teen succumbs to injuries from fire he set

Natan Tzvi Reisfeld, a 13-year-old boy with special needs, passed away at Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital on Thursday, one week after he was critically burned in a fire that he started in a residential building on Yaakov Elazar Street in Jerusalem's Ramot neighborhood.

His funeral was held at midnight at the Shamgar Funeral Home, and he was laid to rest on Har Hamenuchot.

The fire broke out last Wednesday, when the child fled a care facility in Ramat Shlomo, crossed the Begin Highway, and entered a building in Ramot. He lit a fire, which spread rapidly and engulfed two floors. Firefighters arrived at the scene and worked quickly to rescue residents and extinguish the fire.

The firefighters evacuated the child, who was unconscious due to smoke inhalation, and took him for medical care. Shuki Beker, a United Hatzalah paramedic, reported that while in the ambulance, the boy's heart stopped beating, and he performed CPR.

"After administering a shock with the defibrillator, his heartbeat resumed, and he was taken to the hospital in serious condition," Beker stated. Despite the efforts, the child's condition deteriorated, and the doctors at the hospital had to pronounce him dead.