Israel Stampede- Dozens Crushed To Death At Major Religious Festival
A stampede at a religious festival in Israel has killed at least 44 people and injured around 150, according to officials.
The crush occurred at the base of Mount Meron, as tens of thousands of people gathered to celebrate Lag Ba’Omer, a holiday that in part commemorates second-century sage Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, whose tomb sits at the site.
Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, said the stampede in northern Israel was a “great tragedy”.
Friday’s stampede began when large numbers of people trying to exit the site thronged a narrow tunnel-like passage, according to witnesses and video footage.
People began falling on top of each other near the end of the walkway, as they descended slippery metal stairs, witnesses said.
It was first mass religious gathering to be held legally since Israel lifted nearly all restrictions related to the coronavirus pandemic.
First-hand accounts of crush
Those involved in the crush or who witnessed it have been giving their accounts of what happened.
Avraham Leibe, who was injured in the stampede, told Israeli public broadcaster Kan a crush of people trying to descend the mountain caused a “general bedlam” on a slippery metal slope followed by stairs.
“Nobody managed to halt,” he said from a hospital bed. “I saw one after the other fall.”
Another man, who was identified only by his first name Dvir, told Israel Army Radio: “Masses of people were pushed into the same corner and a vortex was created.”
He described a terrifying sight as the first row of people fell down and said he was in the next row of people that tripped.
“I felt like I was about to die,” he said.
“We were going to go inside for the dancing and stuff and all of a sudden we saw paramedics from [ambulance service] MDA running by, like mid-CPR on kids,” 36-year-old Shlomo Katz, who was at the site at the time of the crush, said.
The 36-year-old then saw ambulances come out “one after the other”.
Additional reporting by agencies
Zoe Tidman30 April 2021 09:16
International condolences
Condolences are coming in from the international community this morning.
Governments and their officials from around the world have expressed their sympathies after deadly stampede, including from Romania, Germany and India:
The European Parliament’s president also said he was “greatly dismayed” by the tragedy:
Zoe Tidman30 April 2021 09:03
One of Israel’s deadliest civilian tragedies
The stampede at Mount Meron in northern Israel was one of the country’s deadliest civilian disasters.
Officials have confirmed 44 people were killed in the stampede.
The death toll is on par with the number of people killed in a 2010 forest fire, which is believed to be the deadliest civilian tragedy in the country’s history.
Additional reporting by AP
Zoe Tidman30 April 2021 08:52
Efforts to identify victims
Mid-morning on Friday in Israel, efforts were still under way to identify victims and connect families with missing relatives.
In the overwhelmingly ultra-Orthodox city of Bnei Brak near Tel Aviv, officials were working with healthcare workers to connect the families of the missing.
“The picture is slowly becoming clearer,” Kivi Hess, a municipal spokesperson, told Channel 13 TV.
The station published the photos of seven boys and teens and asked for help in locating them.
In a race against time, funerals were to be held before sundown Friday, the start of the Jewish Sabbath when burials do not take place.
Zoe Tidman30 April 2021 08:40
Images from site
Here are some images of people at the site in the aftermath of the stampede:
Orthodox Jewish men gather early on Friday in Meron at the scene of a stampede which took place overnight
(AFP via Getty Images)
Ultra Orthodox Jews stand next to left over belongings on Mount Meron, where dozens died in a stampede
(REUTERS)
Ultra Orthodox Jews look at stairs with waste on it in Mount Meron, where the crush happened
(REUTERS)
Zoe Tidman30 April 2021 08:34
‘Tragic news’
The US embassy official has offered condolences after the “tragic news” from Mount Meron:
Zoe Tidman30 April 2021 08:20
Dozens crushed to death at religious festival
Dozens of people have been crushed to death during a stampede at a religious festival in northeast Israel on Friday, rescue services said.
Footage taken just moments before the deadly incident at the base of Israel’s Mount Meron showed heaving crowds of black-clad ultra-Oorthodox worshippers crushed in a narrow tunnel-like passage as they exited the site.
Bel Trew and Namita Singh report:
Zoe Tidman30 April 2021 07:58
