Dozens killed in crush at religious event in northern Israel

Israeli investigators are examining what caused a crush that killed at least 44 worshipers and injured 100 more at a mass religious gathering in Mount Meron overnight.

Thousands of worshipers had crowded onto the mountain burial site to celebrate the Lag B’Omer holiday, an annual event where participants sing, dance and light fires in homage to second-century Mishnaic sage Rabbi Shim Bar Yochai

But, in the early hours of Friday morning, the festival erupted into chaos, as a huge wave of people trapped others beneath them, including children, witnesses told Reuters.

“We were going to go inside for the dancing and stuff and all of the sudden we saw paramedics from MADA running by, like mid-CPR on kids, and then one after the other started coming out,” said Shlomo Katz.

Another attendee, Wice Israel, said he saw people falling to the ground. “It was crowded and there were around 60,000 to 70,000 people, no place to move, and people started to fall to the ground, a lot fell to the ground,” he said.

Kalanit Taub, a first responder, described a “horrific scene” with “nonstop people to care for.”

“I saw 20 plus CPRs ongoing at the same time,” Taub told CNN. “Anywhere you looked, you saw another person doing CPR.”

In the hours afterward, she saw people crying or staring into space, struggling to process what they had seen.

Dov Maisel, Vice President of Operations, of volunteer-based emergency organization United Hatzalah, told CNN that an estimated 100,000 people had been on the mountain.

Hundreds of people were pouring into the site at the same time from different directions, leading to a “massive amount of congestion,” he said. People tightly packed in a small area had fallen down a staircase and crushed each other, he added.

“Overall they usually control the crowd, but at a certain point at the peak the crowd became too tight,” Maisel said. “It was simply tragic and horrific.”

According to Maisel, approximately 100 people are in hospital, including about 20 in critical condition.

Lazar Hyman, vice president of United Hatzalah, said it was one of the worst tragedies that he had ever experienced. “I have not seen anything like this since I entered into the field of emergency medicine back in 2000,” said Hyman.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called it a “huge disaster”. “We are all praying for the well-being of the injured. I want to strengthen the hand of those carrying out rescue efforts and who are operating on site,” Netanyahu tweeted.

The local police chief told Israeli TV he accepted full responsibility for the incident.

“I take overall responsibility, for good and for bad. I am ready for every eventuality,” said Shimon Lavie, Israel Police’s northern commander. He said Israel’s northern police command had prioritized security and public safety, but he could not explain what caused the stampede.

Lavie commended police officers who tried to help victims before patients were ferried to hospitals in ambulances and by helicopter. “Police were saving people’s lives while they were also dealing with this complicated incident,” he said.

Each year, hundreds of thousands of Jews — many of them ultra-Orthodox — flock to Bar Yochai’s tomb site on Mount Meron, which lies in the Upper Galilee region of northern Israel, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) northeast of the city of Haifa. Bar Yochai’s book “The Zohar” is the foundation of Jewish mysticism.

Israel health ministry had urged people not to attend the festival, warning of the risk of another coronavirus outbreak. However, case numbers have been low, and Israel has already fully vaccinated more than 58% of its population, so the event was allowed to proceed.

The injured were transported to Ziv Hospital in Safed, Rambam Hospital in Haifa, and the Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya, according to United Hatzalah CEO Eli Pollack. Six helicopters were used to transfer the wounded.