Mount Meron Ramp Where Deadly Stampede Occurred Was Built Without Permission, Ex-Mayor Says On 5/4/21 at 4:32 PM EDT The ramp where 45 people were crushed to death on Israel's Mount Meron on April 30 looked as though it was built without permission and made too shoddily, a former mayor of a nearby village said. Mordechai Halperin—a former mayor of the nearby village of Meron and ex-chairman of the local planning committee—spoke with The New York Times about the deadly stampede in an article published Tuesday. "Anyone who looked at that slope could see it was something that was just thrown together. The incline was too great, the metal floor was something you could easily slip on," he said.