Who is Responsible For The Deadly Stampede in Israel? Published May 2nd, 2021 - 05:01 GMT
People light candles during a vigil in Habima Square in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv on May 1, 2021,in the aftermath of a deadly stampede in a northern Jewish pilgrimage town. The the overnight disaster killed at least 45 people at an Orthodox Jewish pilgrimage site, one of the nation s worst peacetime disasters. JACK GUEZ / AFP
Highlights
In total, 45 people were killed as worshippers tripped and fell on a packed staircase at Mount Meron on Thursday.
A British man has today been named as among the victims of a stampede at a Jewish pilgrimage site that tragically left 45 people dead after hundreds of worshippers became trapped in an overcrowded passageway in Israel.
Israel stampede was disaster waiting to happen: More than 100,000 crammed into site despite reports from 2008 and 2011 warning it posed danger to human life and capacity shouldn t exceed 15,000 - as Orthodox community lays victims to rest
Ex-comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss, who wrote a report from 13 years ago, warned of dangers to human life
A separate report two years later, in 2011, also said: The existing situation must be immediately changed
First victims of Israeli festival crush identified as funerals got underway in keeping with Orthodox tradition
Among dead include singer from Canada, a nine-year-old boy and his brother, two Americans and father-of-11
In total, 45 people were killed and 150 were wounded, some critically, during Lag B Omer at Mount Meron
Updated: May 1 2021, 10:18 ET
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RELIGIOUS leaders pressured organisers not to limit numbers at a festival in Israel before 45 people were crushed to death, say shock reports.
Dozens died when panicked crowds funnelled into a tiny death trap tunnel at a high-profile Jewish festival late on Thursday night.
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People attempting to escape after the grandstand reportedly collapsedCredit: Reuters
The country s worst peacetime disaster unfolded at the overcrowded festival of Lag B Omer in Meron.
Now it s been been suggested religious leaders put pressure NOT to limit numbers - as it emerged more than 100,000 people eventually turned up.
Reports had previously warned large numbers posed a danger to human life and suggested that capacity should be capped at 15,000.
British victim of Israel stampede: 24-year-old man from Manchester is named among the 45 people killed in crush amid claims Orthodox Jewish leaders put pressure on organisers NOT to limit numbers at festival
Insiders claimed there was political pressure on police to hold the event at any cost ahead of deadly crush
Reports say the head of Shas, a Haredi religious political party in Israel, asked there to be no limit of numbers
A total of 45 people were killed in the stampede at Mount Meron, Israel on Thursday, with at least 150 injured
Moshe Bergman, from Manchester,
“I am responsible, but responsibility does not mean blame,” he said.
“The disaster that happened this year could have happened any other year,” Ohana said, noting that in fact the number of revelers at the holy site was far lower this year than in previous years. He said the scope of the tragedy went “far beyond the police.”
Ohana also gave full backing to the police, saying that “the whole chain of command did its job” ahead of and during the incident, including the police chief and district commander.
The minister added that he had visited the wounded over the weekend and spoken to relatives of victims, and described the pain of hearing their stories.