Israel mourns deaths of 45 in stampede at religious festival

JERUSALEM -- The holiday of Lag BaOmer is one of the happiest days on the calendar for Israel's ultra-Orthodox community -- a time of mass celebrations in honour of a revered sage. But in a split second Friday, the festive gathering in northern Israel turned into one of the country's worst-ever tragedies, with at least 45 people crushed to death and dozens injured in a stampede.

President Joe Biden said he was heartbroken and had called Netanyahu to offer support. "The people of the United States and Israel are bound together by our families, our faiths, and our histories, and we will stand with our friends," he said. "The policeman threw up and started crying, and I understood what he was looking at, what I couldn't see," said Hayut, 36, who suffered a broken ankle and ribs. "I thought this was the end." He said he began to pray and "simply waited."

Video footage from the scene of the disaster showed large numbers of people, most of them black-clad ultra-Orthodox men, squeezed in the tunnel. Witnesses complained that police barricades had prevented people from exiting properly. By Friday night, 32 victims had been identified. Israeli media earlier published a partial list of the victims, including a 9-year-old boy, a pair of brothers, 12 and 14, and a father of 11 children. An unknown number of American citizens, two Canadians and an Argentinian were also among the dead.

Last year, the celebrations were greatly scaled back due to coronavirus restrictions. But this year's event marked the first religious gathering to be held legally since Israel lifted most restrictions in the wake of its successful vaccination program.

Source: Healthcare Press (healthcarepress.net)

every time i see this i dont look at the comments on the post because I see people cheering :(. no matter what borders, politics, it is devastating to see people lose family members, children...

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