'Rejoicing became mourning': At least 45 killed in stampede at Israeli religious festival

Dozens of people have been killed and hundreds injured in a stampede at a religious festival in northern Israel.

Israeli security officials and rescuers carry a body of a victim who died during a Lag Ba'Omer celebrations at Mt. Meron in northern Israel, 30 April, 2021.

Israeli security officials and rescuers carry a body of a victim who died during a Lag Ba'Omer celebrations at Mt. Meron in northern Israel, 30 April, 2021. Source: AAP, AP

At least 45 people have been crushed to death at an overcrowded ultra-Orthodox religious festival in Israel with attendees describing scenes of chaos in which others died in front of their eyes.

Tens of thousands of mainly ultra-Orthodox Jews had flocked to the Galilee tomb of 2nd-century sage Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai on Friday for annual Lag B'Omer commemorations that include all-night prayer, mystical songs and dance.

The ecstatic crowds packed the Mount Meron slope in defiance of COVID-19 warnings by health officials. Witnesses said people were asphyxiated or trampled in a passageway, some going unnoticed until the PA system sounded an appeal to disperse.

"We thought maybe there was a (bomb) alert over a suspicious package. No one imagined that this could happen here. Rejoicing became mourning, a great light became a deep darkness," a pilgrim who gave his name as Yitzhak told local Channel 12 TV.

"Rabbi Shimon used to say that he could absolve the world ... If he didn't manage to cancel this edict on the very day of his exaltation, then we need to do real soul-searching."

The Magen David Adom ambulance service said 103 people had been injured, including dozens fatally. Channel 12 put the number of dead at 40. These included children, witnesses said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called it a "heavy disaster", adding on Twitter: "We are all praying for the wellbeing of the casualties."

The Lag B'Omer event at Mount Meron was thought to be one of the largest gatherings of people - certainly in Israel and perhaps farther afield - since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic more than a year ago.

As rescue workers tried to extricate the casualties, police shut down the site and ordered revellers out.

The Transportation Ministry halted roadworks in the area to enable ambulances and pilgrims' buses to move unhindered. Military helicopters ferried some casualties to hospitals.

The Mount Meron tomb is considered to be one of the holiest sites in the Jewish world and it is an annual pilgrimage site.
Videos posted on social media showed chaotic scenes as men clambered through gaps in sheets of torn corrugated iron to escape the crush. Bodies lay on stretchers in a corridor, covered in foil blankets.

Private bonfires at Mount Meron were banned last year due to COVID-19 restrictions, but lockdown measures were eased this year amid Israel's rapid vaccine program that has seen more than 50 per cent of the population fully vaccinated. 


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3 min read
Published 30 April 2021 1:13pm
Updated 30 April 2021 8:01pm
Source: Reuters, SBS


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