Teenager killed in explosion during northern Israel school hike

A teenager was killed and students and staff were injured Monday when an explosion struck a school hike in northern Israel, emergency services and officials said. Israeli authorities suspect an unexploded munition caused the blast, but the circumstances remain under investigation. The group was hiking the Naftali Mountains Forest scenic route near the villages of Yiftah and Manara, close to the Lebanon border. The deceased student’s age was reported as either 14 or 15. Injury totals also varied as reports developed, ranging from around 19 to more than 20; emergency-service accounts cited three people seriously injured and at least 10 with less serious injuries. The Israeli military said an initial review indicated the explosion was caused by an unexploded Hezbollah munition that had fallen in the area. Officials have not established when it arrived. Investigators believe a student may have found and picked up the object, possibly placing it in a backpack, before it exploded minutes later. Those accounts are preliminary, and authorities have not announced a completed investigation. Police said bomb-disposal experts were sent to examine the scene.