Israel stampede: At least 44 killed in crush at religious festival

[MenInG]

At least 44 people have been killed in a stampede at a religious festival in the north-east of Israel.

The national emergency service Magen David Adom (MDA) said dozens more had been wounded at the Lag B'Omer festival, at the foot of Mount Meron.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described it as a "heavy disaster" and said he was praying for the casualties.

Tens of thousands reportedly attended, making it the largest event in Israel since the coronavirus pandemic began.

Dozens of ambulances attended the scene and emergency services laid out bodies under foil covers on the ground. Police asked everyone at the site to evacuate.

Emergency officials said 38 people were in critical condition at the site, with six more critically injured but evacuated and scores more wounded less seriously.

"MDA is fighting for the lives of dozens wounded, and will not give up until the last victim is evacuated," a tweet read.

What's the latest?
Early reports suggested a structure at the site collapsed, but MDA officials later said it was the result of a stampede. Police sources told Haaretz that it started after some attendees slipped on some steps, causing dozens more to fall.

"It happened in a split second; people just fell, trampling each other. It was a disaster," a witness told the newspaper.

Videos posted online show thousands of people tightly packed together for the event, before struggling to flee the chaos as the incident unfolded.

One pilgrim reportedly thought there was a bomb alert when loudhailer messages were heard urging the crowds to disperse.

"No one imagined that this could happen here," the man told Channel 12 TV. "Rejoicing became mourning, a great light became a deep darkness."

Yanki Farber, a reporter with Orthodox Jewish website Behadrei Haredim described it as a "big disaster".

"Over a thousand people together tried to go down a very, very small place, very narrow road and they just fell on top of each other," he told the BBC.

Earlier in the day officials said they were not able to enforce coronavirus restrictions at the site due to the huge crowds.

Police reportedly said they had arrested two people for disrupting their efforts to keep order before the stampede occurred.

What is the Lag B'Omer festival?
Tens of thousands of Orthodox Jews make a pilgrimage to Meron each year for Lag B'Omer, an annual religious holiday marked with all-night bonfires, prayer and dancing.

The town is the site of the tomb of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, a second-century sage, and is considered to be one of the holiest sites in the Jewish world.

According to the Times of Israel, organisers estimated that 100,000 people arrived on Thursday night, with more due to arrive on Friday.

Last year's celebration was restricted, but Israel's successful vaccination programme - one of the fastest in the world - has allowed it to lift many restrictions in recent months.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-56938657

 

[MenInG]

Sad for the loss but Israel allowing such events in COVID times?

 

[Couch Cricketer]

Sad for the loss but Israel allowing such events in COVID times?

They seem to have reached herd immunity with almost 60% of the adult population vaccinated already. From what I read this was the first such gathering in over a year. Cases have dropped to below 100 and keep dropping every week.
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/israel/

 

[OMB]

This is what India thought in Feb when the cases dropped very low. Better that they keep social distancing and masks on. more and more variants will keep surging and I believe truly no one can claim herd immunity for atleast one more year

 

[Varun]

This is what India thought in Feb when the cases dropped very low. Better that they keep social distancing and masks on. more and more variants will keep surging and I believe truly no one can claim herd immunity for atleast one more year

Difference is Israel have vaccinated vast swathes of their populace with the best one available (Pfizer), while our dodos over here were on a wing and a prayer, utilizing the Kumbh for the UP election next year.

 

[OMB]

Difference is Israel have vaccinated vast swathes of their populace with the best one available (Pfizer), while our dodos over here were on a wing and a prayer, utilizing the Kumbh for the UP election next year.

I was talking about the mutant strains and the base assumption that vaccination works against all mutant strains.

 

[Varun]

I was talking about the mutant strains and the base assumption that vaccination works against all mutant strains.

Well if they don't we're done for.

 

[Robert]

Sad for the loss but Israel allowing such events in COVID times?

Israel appears pretty much to have beaten COVID with the fastest vaccine rollout on Earth.

Horrible news about the crush.

 

[WhenSultansBowled]

One pilgrim reportedly thought there was a bomb alert when loudhailer messages were heard urging the crowds to disperse.

They should investigate who was handling the aforementioned "loudhailer".

Getting crushed to death in a stampede is a very painful way to go. RIP.

 

[MenInG]

Israel is to hold a national day of mourning after at least 45 people were killed following a stampede at a religious festival.

More than 100 others were hurt during the Lag B'Omer event at Mount Meron in northern Israel, where annual commemorations include all-night prayers and dancing.

Four people remained in a critical condition on Friday afternoon, the country's health ministry said.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the victims would be remembered across the country on Sunday.

Chaotic scenes were captured on social media, showing men clambering through gaps in corrugated iron as they tried to escape the crush in the early hours of the morning.

"Masses of people were pushed into the same corner and a vortex was created," witness Dvir told Army Radio.

"I felt like I was about to die."

Casualties included children, some of whom became separated from their parents.

Attendee Shlomo Katz said: "We were standing and waiting for our friends - we were going to go inside for the dancing - and all of a sudden we saw paramedics running by, mid-CPR on kids."

Ambulances then began arriving "one after the other", he added.

Paramedic Omri Gorga said he saw "tens of people lying on the ground" and "tens of injured, walking and bleeding".

Speaking from a hospital bed, Avraham Leibe told Israeli public broadcaster Kan there was "general bedlam" on a slippery metal slope followed by stairs.

"Nobody managed to halt," he said. "I saw one after the other fall."

Areas were cordoned off to protect against COVID-19, and that may have produced unexpected bottlenecks, Israeli media said.

Mobile phone coverage around Mount Meron went down for several hours and emergency hotlines were overwhelmed with calls.

A pilgrim called Yitzhak told Channel 12 TV: "We thought maybe there was a (bomb) alert over a suspicious package.

"No one imagined that this could happen here. Rejoicing became mourning; a great light became a deep darkness."

Some 150 people were taken to hospital, said Zaki Heller, a spokesman for the Magen David Adom ambulance service.

"In one moment, we went from a happy event to an immense tragedy," he added.

Photographs show rows of wrapped bodies lying on the ground and dozens of ambulances.

Mobile intensive care units and helicopters were used to transport the most seriously injured to hospital.

"Close to 200 life-saving vehicles" were sent to the scene, emergency services spokesman Yoni Yagodozsky told Sky News, in addition to a "huge fleet" already there.

Mr Yagodozsky said the tragedy, which took place in a hilly area, happened while "people were on their way down from the main ceremony".

The path was narrow and "people tripped over", while those behind "simply walked on them and that's what created this horrible, horrible incident", he said.

Channel 13 TV showed photographs of seven boys and teenagers who may be missing.

While some of the deceased are yet to be identified, paramedic Uriel Goldberg told Sky News that most people had been accounted for by lunchtime on Friday.

The Haaretz newspaper quoted witnesses as saying police barricades had prevented people from exiting quickly.

The police's internal investigations department is looking at the conduct of officers, the Justice Ministry said.

Mr Yagodozsky said first responders are "well trained and well prepared" for these types of events, and had completed an exercise anticipating such a scenario.

"In the beginning, there was concern that one of the construction sets built in the area had collapsed. Then, it became more and more clear that people were trying to escape," he said.

There will be a "thorough investigation" following the "huge tragedy", Mr Yagodozsky added.

Funerals will be held before sundown on Friday - the start of the Jewish Sabbath, when burials do not take place.

Mr Netanyahu, who visited the site on Friday, described the incident as a "heavy disaster", adding: "We are all praying for the wellbeing of the casualties."

President Reuven Rivlin has lit memorial candles to honour the dead.

The Queen has sent a message of condolence to him, saying: "I was deeply saddened by news of the disaster at the Lag B'Omer festival in Meron, Israel.

"My thoughts are with all those who have been injured, and the friends and families of those who lost their lives. They have my deepest sympathies."

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson described the incident as "devastating", tweeting: "My thoughts are with the Israeli people and those who have lost loved ones in this tragedy."

It is one of Israel's deadliest civilian events.

About 100,000 ultra-Orthodox Jews had gathered at the tomb of second-century sage Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, considered one of the holiest sites in the Jewish world.

Large crowds traditionally light bonfires, dance and pray.

It was the first large-scale religious festival since almost all Israel's coronavirus restrictions were lifted. In previous years, up to a quarter of a million people have attended.

The site is mostly gender-segregated and mobile-phone video suggests the crush took place mainly in the men's areas.

The gathering went ahead despite health officials warning that crowding could cause COVID to spread.

Israel has seen cases plummet since launching one of the world's most successful vaccination campaigns late last year.

More than 54% of the population has been fully inoculated.

SKY

 

[Jadz]

Many Muslims have been killed during Hajj, because of huge numbers all crushed into small, tight spaces. And it brought to mind the tragedy of Hillsborough, when many football fans were crushed to death.

Limiting the number of people allowed into confined spaces ought to be a priority for authorities and police.

 

[OMB]

Israel crush: Netanyahu promises inquiry as first victims are buried

Some 150 people were also injured at the Lag B'Omer festival, near Mount Meron, when people became trapped in an overcrowded passageway.

Funerals were allowed to take place for victims who were positively identified.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised that an inquiry would ensure such a tragedy did not happen again.

Visiting the scene, he said it was one of the worst peacetime disasters the country had known.

One survivor who gave his name as David told Ynet news it had felt like a human wave had broken: "Our bodies were swept along by themselves. People were thrown up in the air - others were crushed on the ground."

Medics struggled to reach the injured in the ensuing chaos.

Those who died are believed to be predominantly men or boys from the ultra-Orthodox community as the crush at the largely gender-segregated event apparently happened in one of the men's sections.

Some victims are believed to be foreign nationals. Israeli airline El Al has offered to assist family members of victims living abroad who wish to attend their loved ones' funerals in Israel.

Sunday has been declared a national day of mourning.

What do we know about the victims?
Bodies of the dead were taken to the Greenberg Institute of Forensic Medicine in Tel Aviv, which had identified 32 before the process was halted for 24 hours on Friday evening for observance of the Sabbath.

One of the first funerals to be reported was that of Rabbi Elazar Goldberg, who was in his late thirties.

Mourners in Jerusalem prayed, some wept, as the body covered in a white sheet was moved into the back of a vehicle ahead of burial, Reuters news agency reports.

Two of the youngest victims were brothers Moshe Natan Englander, 14, and Yehoshua Englander, 9, from Jerusalem.

At least two of the dead are US citizens from New York, Congressman Mondaire Jones confirmed in a tweet.

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin lit 45 candles on Friday afternoon to commemorate the dead, the Jerusalem Post reports.

"This is the time to hug the families and to help them find their loved ones - to cry together," he said. "This is a hard and painful day. This tragedy is heartbreaking."

How did the disaster happen?


Some witnesses said the incident had begun when police closed the passageway, said to be 3m (10ft) wide. Police sources told Haaretz newspaper some people had slipped on steps, causing dozens more to fall over. This was not officially confirmed.

An injured man lying on a hospital bed said a line of people in the front of the surging crowd had simply collapsed.

"A pyramid of one on top of another was formed," the unnamed man was quoted as saying by Reuters news agency. "People were piling up one on top of the other. I was in the second row. The people in the first row - I saw people die in front of my eyes."

Dov Maisel, director of operations for volunteer-based emergency services organisation United Hatzalah, told the BBC he had never witnessed such a scene in his 30-year career.

"It felt like a surreal scene where we had over 20 people undergoing CPR by our teams, with limited ability to evacuate from the scene, simply because the place was too overwhelmed with people," he said.

Witnesses say a police barricade prevented people from leaving the crowded area.

Special danger was posed by access roads and paths which "are narrow and not appropriate to accommodate the hundreds of thousands of people who visit the site", the office was quoted as saying by the New York Times.

What was different this year was that bonfire areas were partitioned off as a Covid-19 precaution and this may have created unexpected choke-points for foot traffic, Reuters reports, quoting Israeli media.

Thousands of police officers closed down the event after the crush before helping evacuate attendees.

How did the police respond?
Investigators will look into whether there was any police misconduct, the justice ministry said.

Mr Netanyahu promised a "serious" investigation that "would ensure this kind of disaster never happens again".

Regional police chief Shimon Lavi told reporters at the scene he took upon himself "the overall responsibility, for good and for bad" and was "ready for every inspection".

He later told AFP news agency his officers had done all they could on a "tragic night". Other police officials told local media people had slipped in the walkway and the crush had been "out of their control".

An unnamed police source told Haaretz the incident could not have been prevented and the police were not to blame.

US President Joe Biden called Prime Minister Netanyahu to offer his condolences. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said his thoughts were with "the Israeli people and those who have lost loved ones in this tragedy" and German Chancellor Angela and offered her "heartfelt sympathies".

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-56943755

 

[gazza619]

While some of the deceased are yet to be identified, paramedic Uriel Goldberg told Sky News that most people had been accounted for by lunchtime on Friday.

Uriel was actually a colleague of mine at an accountancy practice in London before moving to Israel.

 

[Last Monetarist]

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/us-citizens-among-dead-injured-israel-religious-festival-disaster-us-embassy-2021-05-01/

U.S. citizens are among the dozens killed and injured in a stampede at a religious festival in Israel, the U.S. Embassy said on Saturday, as criticism mounted in the wake of one of the biggest civilian disasters in the country's history.

At least 45 people were crushed to death and more than 100 injured at the ultra-Orthodox Jewish festival on the slopes of Israel's Mount Meron, held overnight between Thursday and Friday. The exact cause of the disaster is still not clear but witness accounts and videos posted on social media suggested that some people had fallen down stairs leading out of a narrow passageway packed by hundreds of worshippers trying to exit the site, as a surge of people came down upon those ahead of them who had fallen, being trampled and asphyxiated.

One witness described seeing a pyramid of people piling up one on top of the other. Authorities said there were children among those hurt.

The Health Ministry said 32 of the dead had been identified by late Friday. The identification process paused for 24 hours in observance of the Jewish Sabbath, resuming on Saturday evening.

More than 20 of the people injured were still in hospital by Friday night. More than 2,000 Israelis across the country responded to an emergency call for blood donations, according to Magen David Adom, Israel's ambulance service.

A U.S. Embassy spokesperson said: "We can confirm that multiple U.S. citizens were among the casualties".

Those included both dead and injured. The U.S. Embassy was trying to verify if any more U.S. citizens were involved and is providing all possible consular support to affected U.S. citizens, the spokesperson said, declining to comment further.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry said on Friday that consulate officials in New York were in contact with four families of victims and the Israeli embassy in Argentina was in contact with one family.

U.S. media have identified some of the dead, including a 19-year-old American citizen who was in Israel on a gap year.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Friday that two Canadians were killed in the disaster. The Justice Ministry said investigators would look into whether there had been any police misconduct connected to the tragedy and that police had started their own investigation into the incident.

There had been concern for years about safety risks at the annual event, held at the tomb of a 2nd-century Jewish sage in the Galilee.

Anger has mounted at the government and the police for allowing the event to go ahead despite its size far exceeding the coronavirus restrictions on gatherings. An estimated 100,000 packed the festival.

Some critics said politicians had caved to pressures of ultra-Orthodox leaders who are presently allied with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu but have flouted the state's authority for years.

"The government wouldn't consider any restrictions for fear of its Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) partners. And as far as physical safety was concerned, this year wasn’t any different from previous ones. Warnings of a potential disaster have been heard many times before, including from members of the Haredi community, but the traditions must not be changed," wrote Anshel Pfeffer, an analyst for the left-wing Haaretz newspaper.

 

[guna]

Many Muslims have been killed during Hajj, because of huge numbers all crushed into small, tight spaces. And it brought to mind the tragedy of Hillsborough, when many football fans were crushed to death.

Limiting the number of people allowed into confined spaces ought to be a priority for authorities and police.

You cannot limit people as there will be millions waiting. The right way to do is to plan for lots of exits. There should be an exit every 20 feet. But again nothing will be done except for a few crocodile tears from the management.

 

[DeadlyVenom]

You cannot limit people as there will be millions waiting. The right way to do is to plan for lots of exits. There should be an exit every 20 feet. But again nothing will be done except for a few crocodile tears from the management.

Yeah exactly. I saw footage of one of the exits for the event and it was incredibly narrow with a sharp corner and some stairs also. A catastrophe was inevitable.

 

[MenInG]

A national day of mourning is being held in Israel after a crush at a Jewish festival early on Friday that killed 45 men and boys.

Some 150 people were injured at the Lag B'Omer festival, near Mount Meron in northern Israel, when they became trapped in an overcrowded passageway.

Up to 100,000 mostly ultra-Orthodox Jews were present at the gathering.

All of the victims have now been identified. There are 12 teenagers and children among them.

Flags on all public buildings have been lowered to half-mast, and concerts and sports events postponed.

The families of those already buried are beginning their week-long wakes, known in Jewish tradition as sitting shiva.

The work of identifying the dead was paused for 24 hours late on Friday to mark the Sabbath, the Jewish day of rest. From sunset on Saturday, funerals resumed.

"I only wish that we achieve even a small fraction of your stature in studies and holy devotion," said Avigdor Chayut, as he buried his 13-year-old son, Yedidya, in the town of Bnei Brak, near Tel Aviv.

The Magen David Adom rescue agency said on Saturday that more than 2,200 people, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, had donated blood to help the injured.

At least 20 people were still in hospital on Saturday, Israeli media reported, many of them in a serious or critical condition.

Among the dead, two sets of brothers
The 45 people killed in the crush include young fathers, rabbis and two sets of brothers, the Times of Israel reported.

Two of the youngest victims were Moshe Natan Englander, 14, and Yehoshua Englander, 9, from Jerusalem.

At least 10 foreign citizens were said to be among the dead.

Four are American, according to the Israeli foreign ministry. The US has not yet named them, but local reports identified an 18-year-old gap-year student, Donny Morris, from New Jersey.

"We are all shocked and devastated. There are no words," said Rabbi Yechiel Morris, the victim's uncle.

Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said two Canadians were killed.

UK-based site Jewish News reported that a 24-year-old from Manchester in England was also among the dead.

Fraught questions over accountability
Mr Netanyahu has called the incident one of Israel's worst peacetime disasters, and pledged to hold an inquiry to ensure such a tragedy cannot happen again.

Questions are being raised over who is accountable.

"Once we have finished identifying and burying our dead, I will stand before the cameras and take responsibility" for the events, Public Security Minister Amir Ohana said on Saturday.

"I am responsible, but responsibility does not mean blame," he added.

Fractures between the ultra-Orthodox community and secular Israel are coming to the surface, the BBC's Middle East correspondent Tom Bateman reports. Evidence is mounting that the pilgrimage site was a known safety risk, labelled hazardous years before by state investigators.

There are suggestions the government and police may not have acted to reduce the scale of the gathering out of deference to high-profile rabbis and politicians.

More than half of Israel's population are now fully vaccinated against Covid-19, but public gatherings are subject to a numbers cap. Officials had authorised 10,000 people to attend the Lag B'Omer festival, but Israeli media reports suggest 10 times that number were present.

"A thorough inquiry is required," Culture Minister Hili Tropper told Kan public radio, according to Reuters. "This terrible disaster will help everyone understand... that there should be no place where the state does not set the rules."

The Justice Ministry is examining whether there was any police misconduct.

Police sources told Israeli newspaper Haaretz that some people had slipped on steps, causing dozens more to fall over. But some witnesses have said a police barricade prevented people from leaving the crowded area.

BBC

 

[cric_man]

Difference is Israel have vaccinated vast swathes of their populace with the best one available (Pfizer), while our dodos over here were on a wing and a prayer, utilizing the Kumbh for the UP election next year.

Vast swathes of.... 10M population while restricting vaccine supply to the Occupied Palestinian lands of West Bank and Gaza.

 

[Markhor]

Who sanctioned this event ? Even if many participants were vaccinated, it doesn't mean carte blanche to attend these mass gatherings. So this was dangerous to begin with - the videos show people are packed in like sardines.

https://www.npr.org/2021/04/30/9923...at-israeli-religious-festival?t=1620122299315

Hezi Levi, the director general of Israel's Ministry of Health, told NPR that he was concerned about a potential virus outbreak because of the large crowds.

"I expressed yesterday my concern of gathering together of hundreds of thousands of people who are coming to celebrate the Lag BaOmer, and we spoke about a scenario that might be very dangerous regarding corona," Levi said. "We are not sure that everybody is vaccinated. We know children under 16 years old are not vaccinated. And it's very dangerous to transfer the disease."

There's an established pattern now of hard right leaders like Trump, Netanyahu, Modi and Bolsanaro trying to deny reality and minimise the pandemic for PR purposes. Netanyahu literally didn't apply the lockdown rules to the Ultra Orthodox community because they're a key political constituency.

RIP to the deceased.