Dozens Dead After Stampede At Israel’s Pilgrimage

Dozens Dead After Stampede At Israel’s Pilgrimage

At least 44 people were killed in northern Israel on Friday after panic broke out during a well-attended religious celebration. Reuters news agency reports, based on emergency services and medical sources.

 

Initial reports said a tribune had collapsed, but emergency services later attributed the many dead and injured to a stampede. At least 150 people would have been taken to hospital with injuries. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the event “a major disaster.”

The French news agency AFP reports that at least 20 injured people are in a critical condition based on the emergency services. People would have been oppressed because of panic. Images show that at the crash site, corpses are lined up, covered with rescue blankets or pieces of plastic.

The catastrophe occurred during a pilgrimage of thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews in northern Israel. It was the most significant public gathering in the country since the outbreak of the corona epidemic. The pilgrims celebrated the anniversary of Lag Ba’Omer. Deeply religious Jews then gather at Mount Meron, where a revered second-century rabbi and scribe is buried.

Authorities had authorized a meeting of 10,000 in attendance, but organizers say more than 650 full coaches have come to the pilgrimage, with about 30,000 pilgrims. There were about 5,000 police officers to prevent incidents at the party in which bonfires are lit.

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