Dozens perish in stampede at Israeli festival

JERUSALEM－At least 44 people died and 150 injured in a stampede after midnight on Thursday at an Israeli religious festival attended by tens of thousands of people, local media reported.

The tragedy happened in Mount Meron in northern Israel, during the festival celebrated every year on the eve of the Jewish holiday Lag BaOmer.

Estimates by Israeli media said about 100,000 people, most of them ultraorthodox Jews, participated in the festival.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was helicoptered in to the scene in Israel's far north, said the "Mount Meron disaster" was "one of the worst" in Israel.

"What happened here is heartbreaking. There were people crushed to death, including children. Many of those who died have not yet been identified," he said in a Twitter post. "Our hearts go out to the families (of those who died) and the injured."

Netanyahu also called for a national day of mourning on Sunday.

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin also tweeted: "In great concern I follow the reports from Meron and pray for the healing of the wounded."

The United States and European Union offered condolences.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel extended her "heartfelt sympathy" to Israel for the stampede on Friday, her spokesman said.

Initial speculation blamed the tragedy on the collapse of a stand, but Israeli ambulance service Magen David Adom, or MDA, later said it was caused by crowding.

Witnesses and video footage showed the stampede began when large numbers of people trying to exit the site jammed a narrow tunnellike passage. People began falling on top of each other near the end of the walkway as they descended slippery metal stairs, the witnesses said.

"Masses of people were pushed into the same corner and a vortex was created," a man identified only by his first name Dvir, told Israel 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.

Video footage showed large numbers of people, most of them black-clad ultraorthodox men, squeezed in the tunnel. The Haaretz daily quoted witnesses as saying police barricades had prevented people from exiting quickly.

The MDA added the wounded were evacuated, some of them by helicopters, to four hospitals in northern Israel and Jerusalem.

United Hatzalah emergency medical service said dozens of resuscitations were carried out at the site by the organization's volunteers.

Mass religious gathering

This year's celebrations of Lag BaOmer is the first mass religious gathering since Israel lifted nearly all restrictions related to the coronavirus pandemic. The country has seen cases plummet since launching vaccination campaigns late last year.

Lag BaOmer draws tens of thousands of people each year to honor Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, a 2nd century sage and mystic who is buried there. Large crowds traditionally light bonfires, pray and dance as part of the celebrations.

The government has warned against possible COVID-19 transmissions. It specified access to the mountain only by public transport or by shuttles from the parking lots.

The government also demanded that in the traditional bonfire lighting area, those who have been vaccinated, recovered or tested negative for COVID-19 were allowed to enter, with a limit of 3,000 people for each site. Local media reported there were much more people than was allowed at those sites.

Xinhua - Agencies