Israel: Stampede Leaves 44 Dead, 100 Injured

Over 100 people were injured while 44 were crushed dead in the stampede which took place in Israel where for annual Lag B’Omer commemorations that include all-night prayer, mystical songs and dance, civilians were gathered

Witnesses reported that people were suffocated or trampled in tightly closed passageways which were around three metres wide, some going unnoticed until Israel’s public announcement system sounded a request to disperse the area.

Some of the dead had yet to be identified and family members of those attending the festival who were still missing called into radio stations asking for assistance in finding them.

“MDA is fighting for the lives of dozens wounded, and will not give up until the last victim is evacuated,” the emergency service of Israel reported.

“We were going to go inside for the dancing and stuff and all of a sudden we saw paramedics from (ambulance service) MDA running by, like mid-CPR on kids,” a witness reported.

Horrifying videos posted on social media showed ultra-Orthodox men desperately scrabbling through gaps in sheets of torn corrugated iron to escape the stampede. Bodies lay on stretchers in a corridor, covered in foil blankets.

Authorities in Israel had authorised only 10,000 people to gather at the site of the tomb for the religious ceremony but organisers said more than 650 buses had been chartered from across the country, bringing over at least 30,000 pilgrims to Mount Meron.

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

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