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“Incredible catastrophe”: Dozens of dead and more than 100 injured at the Jewish festival

2021-05-03T13:22:33.673Z


A tragic accident occurred in Israel. At least 44 people died in a mass panic in the pilgrimage site of Meron.


A tragic accident occurred in Israel.

At least 44 people died in a mass panic in the pilgrimage site of Meron.

Update from April 30th, 8:40 a.m.:

According to official information, a total of 44 people died in the mass panic at a Jewish festival in the pilgrimage site of Meron.

The Israeli Ministry of Health announced on Friday.

Dozens of injured people were taken to six different hospitals.

According to the rescue service Magen David Adom, there are around 150 people.

A spokesman for the Israeli rescue service Zaka spoke on Friday of a national disaster.

"It is an unbearable event," Motti Buckchin told the Israeli news

website ynet

.

"44 people who wanted to experience joy and who come back in body bags," he continued.

“44 families for whom a world is collapsing.

We can't just get back to business now. ”The accident is one of the worst disasters in Israeli history.

The identification of the victims began on Friday morning.

According to media reports, relatives continued to search for missing persons.

It is expected that many of the victims will be buried in the course of the day - before the beginning of the Jewish day of rest on the Sabbath.

Israel: Dozens of dead and more than 100 injured in mass panic

First report from April 30th:

Meron - According to the rescue workers, at least 38 people died in a mass panic at a Jewish festival in Israel.

More than 100 others were injured in the pilgrimage site of Meron, dozen of them life-threatening.

A spokesman for the emergency service Magen David Adom spoke of an "incredible disaster" early Friday morning.

According to some media reports, there was even talk of 44 deaths.

Thousands of people - mostly strictly religious - celebrated the Jewish holiday of Lag Baomer on Mount Meron.

The number of participants was limited to 10,000 by the authorities.

According to reports in the Israeli media, however, up to ten times as many people had arrived.

Videos were shared on social networks in which people huddled together and exuberantly sang, danced and jumped.

+

At least 38 people were killed in a mass panic in Israel.

© David Cohen / dpa

This ultimately led to a mass panic.

How exactly the incident came about is so far unclear.

The investigation is ongoing.

According to initial findings, people began to slide on a sloping ramp with a metal floor and corrugated iron partitions on both sides.

The crowded celebrants then fell on top of each other.

In the first media reports there was talk of the collapse of a grandstand.

Mass panic in Israel: "I've never seen anything like it"

A spokesman for the rescue service Zaka said on television that there was chaos on site and that many children had been separated from their parents.

One tries to bring them together again.

"I've been with the rescue service for more than 20 years, I've never seen anything like it," said the spokesman.

“Those are unbelievable numbers.” A paramedic also reported that he had seen terrible things.

The injured were taken to nearby hospitals, some by rescue helicopter.

The police blocked access roads and cleared the area.

According to media reports, however, hundreds of believers refused to leave because they wanted to pray.

There were also confrontations.

Even soldiers were deployed, including an elite army unit.

According to the police, there were problems with cell phone reception and many desperate people could not reach relatives in Meron by phone.

Mass panic in Israel: Netanyahu dismayed by "serious misfortune"

Israel's * President Reuven Rivlin wrote on Twitter that he was following reports of the tragedy and praying for the recovery of the injured. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was dismayed by the "serious accident" and assured the rescue workers support. Health Minister Juli Edelstein also spoke of a terrible disaster and expressed his condolences to the bereaved. He thanked the rescue workers for their work.

Lag Baomer is a festival that commemorates, among other things, the Jewish uprising against the Roman occupiers under rebel leader Bar Kochba.

It erupted in 132 and was put down about three years later.

According to tradition, an epidemic ended on the day of Lag Baomer, from which numerous Jewish religious students had died at the time.

The Rabbi Shimon Bar Jochai, who was also involved in the uprising against the Romans, is therefore buried on Mount Meron.

His grave is a place of pilgrimage that thousands of devotees visit every year on the holiday.

Traditionally, campfires are also lit here.

(ph / dpa) * Merkur.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA

List of rubric lists: © David Cohen / dpa

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2021-05-03

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