Photo (above): An Orthodox Jewish man prays after dozens of people were crushed to death at the festival of Lag B’Omer in Israel
At Least 44 Dead and 150 Orthodox Jews Injured in Lag B’Omer Religious Festival on Israel’s Mt. Meron, Say Reports (Videos)
Chris Pleasance and Katie Weston write for MailOnline that video footage captures the moments leading up to the disaster when at least 44 Orthodox Jews died and 150 were injured in a stampede during the religious festival of Lag B’Omer on Israel’s Mt. Meron.
לכבוד התנא: עשרות אלפים בהדלקה המרכזית של תולדות אהרן שמרעידה את הההר מצד לצד pic.twitter.com/b2pMQsXv1z
— משה ויסברג (@moshe_nayes) April 29, 2021
Encapsulating the tragedy, they continue,
- At least 44 people died and 150 were injured, some of them critically, in stampede at Jewish religious festival
- Up to 100,000 Orthodox Jews had gathered at Mount Meron for the festival of Lag B’Omer, celebrating the life of 2nd century mystic and sage Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai who is buried at the site
- Crush caused by ‘human avalanche’ that began when people fell in an overcrowded hallway, police have said
- Video taken moments before the crush shows huge crowds of people dancing along to music in an area only designed to handle 10,000
Watch the following broadcasted reports . . .
Witnesses at the scene describe the chaos and confusion that ensued and their inability to move and escape the stampede . . .
At least 44 were killed and about 150 injured overnight Friday during the Lag B’Omer celebrations in the bonfire section of the Toldot Aharon dynasty on Mount Meron in northern Israel. Videos on social media show many hundreds of Chassidim crowded in a narrow corridor, and as one eyewitness described it, ‘In one moment everything exploded and people just fell and trampled on each other.’נורא לראות את הצפיפות שהיתה במעבר הצר, ואת הדוחק העצום שהוביל בסוף לאסון הקשה והמחריד. pic.twitter.com/1RE7FggFXt
— ישראל כהן (@Israelcohen911) April 29, 2021
Israel later adds video footage of the aftermath, explaining that
Six helicopters were called to evacuate the wounded. Fighters from the IDF rescue unit are also operating at the scene. Magen David Adom ambulances arrived from across the north to evacuate the wounded to hospitals.
Police have launched an investigation at the point where the disaster took place and estimate that about 100,000 people were crowded on the mountain at the time of the collapse – when the maximum allowance was for 10,000. The preliminary police investigation revealed that some of the people who were squeezed together slipped down the stairs, creating a human avalanche under which many were crushed.
The celebrations on Mt. Meron were stopped following the disaster, and the crowds were instructed to leave. Buses and other vehicles that were making their way to the mountain were stopped at police checkpoints and ordered to turn around. Police are urging the public not to come to the area, and announced that ‘hundreds of buses are available to transport people to train stations and central bus stations across the country and the north.’
Hundreds still gathered outside Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai’s gravesite near the area of the disaster around 7 AM on Friday. They engaged in confrontations with police and refused to be evacuated.
The celebration of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai took place with police approval and was conducted by the commander of the Northern District, Superintendent Shimon Lavi, who also present at the time of the incident. Police Commissioner Yaakov Shabtai and Minister of Internal Security Amir Ohana were also on the mountain.
The celebration began on Thursday evening and was the largest event held in Israel since the beginning of the Corona crisis.
The Times of Israel also reports . . .
Shimon Lavi says ready for investigation ‘for better or worse’; narrow pathway at site was known to be a danger, but other police officials say incident was unavoidable
By TOI STAFF | Times of Israel | April 30, 2021