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Dozens Killed In Stampede At Jewish Religious Festival In Israel
Some 100,000 people crushed together to celebrate the festival of Lag BaOmer. A stampede left dozens dead.
Josef Federman
JERUSALEM (AP) A stampede at a religious festival attended by tens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews in northern Israel killed at least 44 people and injured about 150 early Friday, medical officials said. It was one of the country’s deadliest civilian disasters.
The stampede began when large numbers of people thronged a narrow tunnel-like passage during the event, according to witnesses and video footage. People began falling on top of each other near the end of the walkway, as they descended slippery metal stairs, witnesses said.
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The death toll matched the number of people killed in a 2010 forest fire, which is believed to be the deadliest civilian tragedy in the country’s history.
The stampede happened after midnight and its cause was not immediately clear. Witnesses said a row of people had tripped on some stairs, causing other people to fall and sparking the stampede.
“Masses of people were pushed into the same corner and a vortex was created,” a witness, identified only by his first name Dvir, told Army radio. He described a terrifying sight as the first row of people fell down. He said he was in the next row of people that tripped.
Religious festival stampede in Israel kills 45, hurts dozens
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Ultra Orthodox Jews pray near the scene where fatalities were reported among the thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews during Lag BaOmer festival at Mt. Meron in northern Israel, Friday, April 30, 2021. A stampede at a religious festival attended by tens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews in northern Israel killed dozens of people and injured more than 100 others early Friday, medical officials said, in one of the country s deadliest civilian disasters. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)
JERUSALEM – A stampede at a religious festival attended by tens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews in northern Israel killed at least 45 people and injured about 150 early Friday, medical officials said. It was one of the country’s deadliest civilian disasters.