32 shares
Haredi hats and broken glasses are seen at the site of the Mt. Meron disaster in northern Israel, Friday, April 30, 2021 (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)
As the initial shock and horror over Thursday night’s deadly crush at Lag B’Omer festivities on Mount Meron began to subside, focus started to turn on Friday toward the matter of who was to blame for the packed conditions at the site that led to the deaths of 45 people and the injuring of dozens of others in the fatal stampede.
Stark questions will likely be directed at political, civil and law enforcement officials involved in planning, approving and securing the event, amid talk of a potential state commission of inquiry to thoroughly investigate the disaster.
299 shares
Mourners carry the body of Shraga Gestetner, a Canadian singer who died during Lag BaOmer celebrations at Mt. Meron in northern Israel, at his funeral in Jerusalem on Friday, April 30, 2021. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
Ultra-Orthodox men carry the bodies of Moshe Englander, 14, and his brother, Yehoshua, 9, who died during Lag B Omer celebrations at Mt. Meron in northern Israel, in Jerusalem on Friday, April 30, 2021. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
In a sign of mourning for one who lost a relative, a man cuts the shirt of a child whose father died in Meron tragedy, April 30, 2021 (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)
Hundreds attend the Jerusalem funeral of David Krauss in Jerusalem, one of the victims of the Meron tragedy, April 30, 2021 (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)
Gilad Cohen |
Published: 05.01.21 , 23:36
Dozens of ultra-Orthodox demonstrators protested in Jerusalem Saturday night, demanding the bodies of victims of the Mount Meron disaster would be immediately released for burial from the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Tel Aviv.
The demonstrators blocked several roads in the area and set trash cans on fire. Police were working to restore order there.
At the same time, protesters also headed to the Institute of Forensic Medicine to demonstrate there.
comment
93 shares
People outside the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Tel Aviv, where victims of Mount Meron crush were brought to be identified, April 30, 2021. (Tomer Neuberg/Flash90)
Families of victims of the deadly stampede at the Mount Meron pilgrimage site gathered Friday at Israel’s central forensic center to identify the bodies of the deceased.
On Friday afternoon, names of the first known victims among the 45 people killed in the tragedy began to emerge. Israelis were encouraged not to publicize information about the victims on social media until the families receive official word on the fate of their relatives.
The Abu Kabir Forensic Institute in Tel Aviv received the bodies of Meron stampede victims and was working to identify them