Two 18-year-olds found dead; police arrest two combat soldiers suspected of stealing gas cylinder from dental clinic in Kfar Warbug.
By YAAKOV LAPPINLaughing Gas 311(photo credit: Channel 10 News)
The senseless deaths of two 18-year-old cousins after inhaling laughing gas from a stolen cylinder has shocked local communities in the Kiryat Malachi area.Omer Tzur of Moshav Nir Banim and Avishai Klomax of Moshav Orot were found dead early Saturday morning by paramedics in a field near Orot.Police said they died after inhaling the gas at a high concentration from a cylinder that had been stolen from a dentist’s clinic by two soldiers.Officers recovered a large gas cylinder from a vehicle parked in the field nearby.Another cousin who had also inhaled the gas felt unwell and called a number of his friends for help. The friends arrived at the scene and contacted emergency services.Magen David Adom paramedics tried to resuscitate the two youths, before pronouncing them dead. The third cousin was lightly to moderately injured.Police in Kiryat Malachi said two soldiers serving in combat units allegedly stole the gas from a dentist’s clinic in Kfar Warbug several weeks ago, and either sold or gave the cylinder to the trio.The soldiers were arrested on Saturday, and later released.Earlier this year, Shamai Golan, spokesman for the Anti-Drugs Authority, told The Jerusalem Post that it was parents’ responsibility to warn their children against abusing legal industrial substances.“This is not a matter for police or social workers. It’s up to the parents to be aware of what their children are doing,” he said.According to a poll conducted by the Anti-Drugs Authority in 2009, 14 percent of all children aged 12 to 18 admitted to abusing industrial substances such as air-conditioning gas and glue.Two to three youths on average die every year after inhaling air-conditioning gas, losing their balance, and falling from a height.
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