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Dozens Killed In Stampede At Jewish Religious Festival In Israel
Some 100,000 people crushed together to celebrate the festival of Lag BaOmer. A stampede left dozens dead.
Josef Federman
JERUSALEM (AP) A stampede at a religious festival attended by tens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews in northern Israel killed at least 44 people and injured about 150 early Friday, medical officials said. It was one of the country’s deadliest civilian disasters.
The stampede began when large numbers of people thronged a narrow tunnel-like passage during the event, according to witnesses and video footage. People began falling on top of each other near the end of the walkway, as they descended slippery metal stairs, witnesses said.
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Immense tragedy : At least 44 dead, over 100 injured in stampede at religious gathering in Israel, medical officials say Elinor Aspegren, USA TODAY
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A stampede at a Jewish religious gathering in northern Israel killed at least 44 people and injured some 150 others early Friday, medical officials said, in one of the country s deadliest civilian disasters.
About 100,000 people were crowded by Mount Meron before the stampede Thursday night to celebrate the holiday of Lag b’Omer, the New York Times estimated.
A Jewish holiday popular with ultra-Orthodox Jews, it honors Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, a second century sage and mystic who is buried at the base of the mountain. The tomb is considered a holy site in Israel.
The death toll matched the number of people killed in a 2010 forest fire, which is believed to be the deadliest civilian tragedy in the country’s history.
The stampede happened after midnight and its cause was not immediately clear. Witnesses said a row of people had tripped on some stairs, causing other people to fall and sparking the stampede.
“Masses of people were pushed into the same corner and a vortex was created,” a witness, identified only by his first name Dvir, told Army radio. He described a terrifying sight as the first row of people fell down. He said he was in the next row of people that tripped.
The Israeli prime minister called for a day of mourning on Sunday as he announced an investigation into the sentence that killed 44 people.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced a full-blown investigation into a deadly accident at a Jewish religious festival in the town of Mount Meron, which was whistled by protesting relatives of the victims.
According to Israeli media, protesters threw empty bottles and shouted insults at Netanyahu, traveling to the pilgrimage site in the north of the country, where at least 44 people were killed and another 150 injured in the Lag BaOmer celebrations.
Netanyahu said it was one of the “worst” disasters in Israel’s history, announcing Sunday as a “national day of mourning” and expressing sympathy for the families of the victims. He also met others involved in police and rescue work.