BICOM
30th April 2021
There are conflicting reports into the exact number of deaths, withÂ
Kan Radio News saying least 44 people were killed and 150 people, including children, were injured, of which six are in critical condition, 18 are in serious condition, eight are in moderate condition and the rest are in light condition
The Magen David Adom (MDA) rescue service said 38 people had been killed at the scene. It said its paramedics treated dozens of people, including 18 in a serious condition, 2 who were moderately hurt, and 80 lightly injured. Many others are suffering from shock.
Early reports suggested a structure at the site collapsed, but MDA officials later said the deaths were caused by a stampede. Witnesses said that celebrants had tripped on stairs that causing a crushing domino effect. Others said the police did not block the passage to the compound, allowing people to stream inside and in the panic, many were crushed.
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May. 2, 2021 5:59 AM
The Lag Ba’omer hillula that ended in mass casualties on Mount Meron was not the only large gathering that was scheduled to take place in the Galilee last week. Tens of thousands of members of Israel’s Druze community had planned to visit the grave of Nabi Shuaib in Kfar Hittim on April 25, for the Habi Shuaib festival. But the Druze leadership canceled the pilgrimage in the wake of heavy pressure from the commander of the Israel Police Northern District, Maj. Gen. Shimon Lavi, and Israel’s coronavirus czar, Prof. Nachman Ash, on the grounds that it could become a superspreader event.
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
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.
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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.