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‘Great Tragedy’ in Israel as Dozens Killed, Over 100 Injured in Stampede

AP Photo/Ariel Schalit
AP Photo/Ariel Schalit
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By Emily Jones

April 30, 2021

JERUSALEM, Israel – More than 40 people were killed and over 100 injured during a stampede Friday morning at a Jewish religious festival in northern Israel.

The disaster took place at Mt. Meron in northern Galilee where thousands of mostly Ultra-Orthodox Jews gathered for a festival called Lag BaOmer. The festival honors Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, a 2nd-century sage and mystic who is buried there. It is unclear what caused the stampede at the popular event, but witnesses described watching people getting crushed.

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A witness, identified only by his first name Dvir, told Israel’s Army Radio that “masses of people were pushed into the same corner and a vortex was created.” He said a first row of people fell down, then a second row also began to fall down from the pressure of the stampede.

AP Photo/Ariel Schalit
Mourners carry the body of Rabbi Eliezer Goldberg, who died during Lag BaOmer celebrations at Mt. Meron in northern Israel, at his funeral in Jerusalem on Friday, April 30, 2021. A stampede at a religious festival attended by tens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews in northern Israel killed dozens of people and injured about 150 early Friday, medical officials said. It was one of the country’s deadliest civilian disasters. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

“I felt like I was about to die,” he said.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the event a “great tragedy” and said “everyone is praying for the recovery of the injured.”

Israeli media reports show rows of dead bodies.

An officer from Israel’s Zaka emergency rescues service, which typically deals with cleaning up the aftermath of suicide bombings and terror attacks, told Ynet news “I’ve never seen anything like this…We don’t know exactly what happened, but the result is unthinkable.”

Zaki Heller, spokesman for the Magen David Adom rescue service, said at least 150 people were injured.

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Heller told Army Radio “no one had ever dreamed” something like this could happen. “In one moment, we went from a happy event to an immense tragedy,” he said.

Netanyahu declared Sunday a national day of mourning for the victims. 

Ronen Zvulun/Pool Photo via AP
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, center left, visits Mount Meron, northern Israel, where fatalities were reported during Lag BaOmer festival, Friday, April 30, 2021. A stampede at the religious festival attended by tens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews in northern Israel killed dozens of people and injured about 150 early Friday, medical officials said. It was one of the country’s deadliest civilian disasters.(Ronen Zvulun/Pool Photo via AP)

“There were heartbreaking scenes here. People who were crushed to death, including children,” Netanyahu says after visiting the scene. 

He also promised a speedy investigation. 

“We will carry out a comprehensive, serious, detailed investigation to ensure this kind of disaster never happens again,” he said.

Some 90,000 people were attending the first event of its size since the coronavirus restrictions were lifted.

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