44 dead in a stampede at Meron

The disaster of the annual celebrations has passed Lag Baomer in Meron, northern Israel. 44 people were crushed to death last night at a ceremony held at the shrine of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yohai on Mount Meron. More than 150 people were injured, eighteen of them seriously. The Ministry of Religious Services announced that the incident was over, and called on the public not to come to Meron. The accident reportedly occurred as some people leaving the crowded site slipped on stairs, falling behind and causing a human waterfall to crush people to death. At that time, the leader of the Toldot Aharon Hasidic sect had just lit a traditional fire in honor of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yohai. Eyewitness Moshe Lavi said to the site Walla! The news: “There was pressure, a lot of people. I left right after the fire was lit. There was a natural and natural crowding. They tried to organize it. When going out, it’s kind of tight, one of them slipped, started to fall on him.” The police have informed that the evacuation of the wounded has completed and that they are removing the crowds from the site. Due to the burden on cellular networks, many people were unable to contact their relatives participating in the event. Ambulances and six IDF rescue helicopters transported the wounded to Ziv Hospital near Zaffat (Tasfed), to Rambam Hospital in Haifa and to the Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya. Hasidic groups in the United States reportedly canceled the Lag Ba Omar activities and prayers were held for the injured in Meron. President Reuven Rivlin said last night in response to the disaster: “I was following the reports from Meron with great shock, and I prayed for the wounded to be healed, and may God heal them.” Posted by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – April 30, 2021 © Copyright Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2021