Dubai: A Dubai high school student allegedly committed suicide by jumping off a building following an argument with his schoolmates at a party, Dubai Police told Gulf News.

Police are still investigating the death of 16-year-old Briton Harry Harling, a Gems Jumeirah College Year 11 student, who allegedly jumped off the 11th floor of a building under construction in MotorCity early morning on Saturday. Brig Khalil Ebrahim Al Mansouri, Director General of Dubai Police's Criminal Investigation Department, said investigation showed that he was attending a party with some friends during which they were drinking alcohol.

At the party, the friends had an argument and the victim stormed out and went to a building under construction from where he plunged to his death, he said.

The teenager's body was taken for post-mortem.

The victim's parents were informed and his friends were called for interrogation. They told police that although he left the party quite angry, they had no idea what he was planning to do.

Investigation is ongoing to find out the reason behind the dispute between the victim and his friends that led him to end his life, Brig Al Mansouri said.

Students told to cooperate

He urged parents to find out children's concerns, get to know their friends in order to prevent them from falling into trouble or consuming substances that could lead them to lose awareness and commit acts that may cost them their lives.

Jumeirah College Principal Fiona Cottam issued a circular to students yesterday, urging the victim's friends to help the police with information for further investigation. "As with all unexpected deaths, the authorities have to investigate the circumstances and surrounding issues," she wrote.

Sources told Gulf News that 25 to 30 students, most of them from Jumeirah College, had gathered at a Motor City apartment for a party on Friday evening.

"There was an argument between Harling and another schoolmate. Friends had to pull them apart and Harling was very upset when he left the party," a source, who declined to be named, said.

Harling left the party by around 10.30pm while the rest of the crowd stayed for about an hour longer. Most of them were drunk.

The British Embassy is providing consular services to the family.

One of the family friends said that they were not sure whether it was a suicide or an accident.

Sharjah: man plunges to death

A Sri Lankan man jumped to his death from a 15-floor building in Al Majaz area in Sharjah on Sunday evening.

According to the police, the man, in his 30s, worked as a cleaner in a hotel and had stolen Dh90,000. The hotel authorities reported the theft to the police. On being questioned, the man said he had concealed the money in another building in the same area.

The police took him to the building and he guided them to the top floor, where he jumped down. He died on the spot and his body was sent to Kuwaiti Hospital.

The Buhairah police are investigating the case.