Mass panic on the Har Meron

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At the Lag baOmer festival on Har Meron in northern Israel, a mass panic occurred between the evening of April 29, 2021 and the early morning of the following day, with at least 45 dead and 150 injured, most of them severe. It was one of the deadliest civil disasters in the history of the State of Israel .

background

Tomb of Shimon ben Jochai

Lag baOmer is an annual Jewish festival that is celebrated on the 33rd day of the counting of the Omer between Passover and Shavuot and falls on the 18th Iyyar . The pilgrimage site is mainly visited by ultra-Orthodox Jews .

In 2020, Israel restricted pilgrimage due to the COVID-19 pandemic . In 2021, the Israeli cabinet approved the pilgrimage to the tomb of Rabbi Shimon ben Jochai in Meron and lifted the COVID-19 limit of 1000 participants. The repeal was part of an agreement with relevant officials at the Ministry of Religious Services , who required attendees to be vaccinated against the coronavirus. The event was the largest to take place in Israel since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020.

In addition, the celebration on Mount Har Meron took place between Wednesday and Friday for the first time in 13 years. It was limited to a 14 hour window during which three bonfires were lit at the same time, each by an admor (rabbi), with about 3000 people for each fire. The number of visitors was limited to 10,000 people in 2021, but there were around 100,000 on the site.

It was not the first time that pilgrims were killed in a crowd on Mount Meron: on May 15, 1911, eleven people were killed when a crowd of around 10,000 filled the area and a railing of a nearby lookout point collapsed. About 100 people fell to the ground from a height of about 8 meters, the death of seven people was found at the scene of the accident, and another four in the days after the incident. There were 40 injured.

A 2008 Israel State Oversight report concluded that the site was inadequate for the number of annual visitors. According to the report, the state announced in 2011 that it would take control of the site, but a court ruling reversed the move in 2020.

event

At least 45 people died and more than 150 other people were injured, some of them life-threatening. The disaster began in the section used by the Hasidic community of Toldot Aharon.

The festival began in the late evening of April 29, 2021. On April 30, around 12:50 am local time, the mass panic occurred when some participants in the men's section of the gender-segregated event area slipped on wet stairs and others fell over. As the crowd rushed to the exits, some participants were trapped and fell to the floor, many unnoticed until warnings sounded over a public address system. Many thought the site would be attacked because it is close to the Syrian and Lebanese borders. Chaos broke out. “We were at the entrance, we decided we wanted to get out, and then the police blocked the gate so that anyone who wanted to get out couldn't get out. In the rush we fell on each other. I thought I was going to die, ”a witness told the Maariv newspaper . "I saw the bodies next to me."

While the paramedics tried to reach the injured, the former Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel, Yisrael Meir Lau , stayed on the stage, warned them to calm down and recited psalms for the wounded. Six helicopters helped evacuate the wounded. Cell phone service collapsed because of the many people trying to make contact with their loved ones.

The exact cause of the disaster was not immediately clear. Initial reports said that a grandstand had collapsed at one of the concerts. However, the Magen David Adom ambulance service reported that a crush caused the tragedy.

The event marks one of the worst peacetime tragedies in Israeli history, equating to the deaths of the 2010 Mount Carmel forest fire .

Reactions

After the mass panic

The incident is currently being investigated. The Israeli police rejected the guilt. She said that the event could not be prevented and that the place had been examined for structural defects. The fact that people slipped on the stairs was beyond the control of the police.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the incident a "great tragedy" and said everyone would pray for the victims. President Reuven Rivlin expressed his condolences to the victims. International representatives from Argentina, the European Union, Turkey and the United States expressed their condolences.

swell

  1. ↑ What Is Lag B'omer? In: My Jewish Learning. Retrieved April 30, 2021 (American English).
  2. ↑ https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-why-do-orthodox-jews-flock-to-the-mt-meron-tomb-of-rabbi-shimon-bar-yochai-1.9761175
  3. ^ Felicia Schwartz: Dozens Killed in Stampede at Israeli Religious Festival . In: Wall Street Journal . April 30, 2021, ISSN  0099-9660 ( wsj.com [accessed April 30, 2021]).
  4. ↑ Israel stampede: Dozens killed in crush at religious festival . In: BBC News . April 30, 2021 ( bbc.com [accessed April 30, 2021]).
  5. ↑ 44 הרוגים ויותר מ -100 פצועים בהילולה בהר מירון. April 29, 2021, accessed April 30, 2021 (Hebrew).
  6. ↑ Jerusalem Post, April 30, 2021: Lag Ba'omer: Dozens killed, injured amid stampede on Mt. Meron. Accessed April 30, 2021
  7. ↑ a b c T. OI staff: 44 people crushed to death, dozens hurt at mass Lag B'Omer event in Mt. Meron. Retrieved April 30, 2021 (American English).
  8. ↑ Scores Crushed to Death at Lag BaOmer Event in Meron, Israel. Chabad, accessed April 30, 2021 .
  9. ↑ Why do Orthodox Jews flock to the Mt. Meron tomb of Rabbi Shimon Bar-Yochai? Accessed April 30, 2021 .
  10. ↑ David Israel: The Tragedy on Mt. Meron, Lag B'Omer 1911. Retrieved April 30, 2021 (American English).
  11. ↑ מבקר המדינה מצא ליקויים בקבר הרשב"י כבר לפני 12 שנה: "אין לאפשר את המצב הקיים". April 30, 2021, accessed April 30, 2021 (Hebrew).
  12. ↑ News1מחלקה ראשונה. Retrieved April 30, 2021 .
  13. ↑ הממשלה החליטה להלאים את קבר הרשב"י. Retrieved April 30, 2021 (Hebrew).
  14. ↑ המהלך להפקעת מתחם קבר הרשבי במירון נעצר; במקומו - הסדר ל -3 שנים. Retrieved April 30, 2021 (Hebrew).
  15. ↑ TOI staff: A Hasidic singer, a dozen boys and teens, a father of 11: All 45 Meron victims. Retrieved May 2, 2021 (American English).
  16. ↑ Meron in Israel: Dozens of dead in mass panic on the Jewish holiday Lag Ba'Omer. In: Der Spiegel. Retrieved April 30, 2021 .
  17. ↑ tagesschau.de: At least 38 dead in the crowd on festival in northern Israel. Retrieved April 30, 2021 .
  18. ↑ Jochen Stahnke, Tel Aviv: Mass panic in Israel: “Our greatest fears have been confirmed” . In: FAZ.NET . ISSN  0174-4909 ( faz.net [accessed May 2, 2021]).
  19. ↑ Steve Hendrix, Jaclyn Peiser: At least 44 killed, dozens injured in stampede at religious festival in Israel . In: Washington Post . ISSN  0190-8286 ( washingtonpost.com [accessed April 30, 2021]).
  20. ↑ Isabel Kershner, Eric Nagourney, Mike Ives: Stampede at Israel Religious Celebration Kills at Least 44 . In: The New York Times . April 30, 2021, ISSN  0362-4331 ( nytimes.com [accessed April 30, 2021]).
  21. ↑ a b c At least 44 killed at overcrowded Lag Ba'Omer event in northern Israel. Accessed April 30, 2021 .
  22. ^ Stampede at Israeli religious festival kills nearly 40.Retrieved April 30, 2021 .
  23. ↑ Tragedia en Israel: w hay un joven argentino entre los muertos por la estampida - LA NACION . In: La Nación . ISSN  0325-0946 ( com.ar [accessed April 30, 2021]).
  24. ↑ https://twitter.com/egiaufreteu/status/1387962588860911617. Retrieved April 30, 2021 .
  25. ↑ No: 167, 30 April 2021, Press Release Regarding the Casualties on Mount Meron in the North of Israel. Republic of Turkey - Ministry of Foreign Affairs, accessed April 30, 2021 (Turkish).
  26. ↑ https://twitter.com/jakesullivan46/status/1387963871986655233. Retrieved April 30, 2021 .

Coordinates: 32 ° 58 ′ 50 ″  N , 35 ° 26 ′ 26 ″  E