Israel remembers festival dead: Day of mourning is held for 45 people crushed to death in stampede after British man, 24, was named amongst victims
Flags were lowered at half-mast across Israel on Sunday to mourn victims of the stampede on Thursday night
Brit Moshe Bergman, 24, from Manchester, was formally identified as amongst the victims on Saturday
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
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Rescue forces and police at the scene after a mass fatality scene during the celebrations of the Jewish holiday of Lag B Omer on Mount Meron, in northern Israel on April 30, 2021. (David Cohen/Flash90)
A forum of former Israel Police chiefs on Sunday urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to form a state commission of inquiry into the Mount Meron disaster last week that saw 45 people crushed to death at a religious festival.
In a letter to the prime minister, the Retired Police Commissioners and Major General’s Forum said only a thorough investigation examining the role of all bodies involved in organizing the annual Lag B’Omer event at Mount Meron can provide sufficient input to prevent another disaster in the future.
Updated: 1 May 2021, 15:14
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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
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.
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.