Dozens killed in crush at Israeli religious festival

At least 45 people have been crushed to death in a stampede at a religious festival attended by tens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews in the north-east of Israel. 

A further 150 have been hospitalised, with at least 38 thought to be in critical condition.

Tragedy struck during the annual Lag B’Omer celebration, which takes place at the foot of Mount Meron, after a number of attendees slipped on steps in a tunnel-like passage, causing dozens more to fall.

Emergency officials say the incident occurred at around 01:00 local time (22:00 GMT Thursday).

Pilgrims have described the panic as the crush began to unfold. “It happened in a split second; people just fell, trampling each other. It was a disaster,” one witness told the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

Videos posted online show thousands of people struggling to flee through the narrow passageway.

Lazar Hyman, a volunteer rescue worker, told AFP that he saw “dozens of people fall on top of one another” and “a large number of them were crushed and lost consciousness”.

“I have not seen anything like this since I entered into the field of emergency medicine,” Hyman added. 

Emergency services deployed six helicopters to evacuate the injured. Some have been transported by military helicopter to Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who travelled to the scene this morning, has called the incident a “heavy disaster” and announced that Sunday would be a day of national mourning.

Orthodox Jews make a pilgrimage to Meron every year for the religious holiday which is marked with all-night bonfires, prayer and dancing.The town is the site of the tomb of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, a revered second century sage. 

The crowded event was the largest public gathering in Israel since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. 

Organisers estimate that 100,000 people arrived on Thursday night. Attendance was much higher than last year, when the festival was held under much tighter pandemic restrictions. Yet it was still smaller than in many previous years. 

“No one imagined that this could happen here,” one pilgrim told Channel 12 TV. “Rejoicing became mourning, a great light became a deep darkness.”