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44 killed in stampede at Israeli religious festival
44 killed in stampede at Israeli religious festival
Witnesses said people were asphyxiated or trampled in a passageway, some going unnoticed until the PA system sounded an appeal to disperse. Medics and rescue workers attend to the Lag B Omer event in Mount Meron, northern Israel, where fatalities were reported among the thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews gathered. (Photo: Reuters)
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Updated: Apr 30, 2021, 10:08 AM IST
At least 44 people were killed in a stampede at a religious bonfire festival in Israel on Friday, medics said, in what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described as a heavy disaster .
Tens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews had thronged to the Galilee tomb of 2nd-century sage Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai for annual Lag B Omer commemorations that include all-night prayer, mystical songs and dance.
Ambulance officials described the incident as a stampede and said 103 people had been injured
The site is mostly gender-segregated and bystander video suggested the crush took place in one of the men`s sections
With the site cleared, rescue workers collapsed against railings, some weeping as their colleagues comforted them
Mount Meron: Dozens of people were crushed to death in a crowd at a religious bonfire festival in Israel on Friday (April 30), medics said, in what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described as a heavy disaster .
The crush occurred as tens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews thronged to the Galilee tomb of 2nd-century sage Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai for annual Lag B`Omer commemorations that include all-night prayer, mystical songs and dance.