Israel: At least 45 Dead, 150 injured in Meron Stampede

Description

Emergency services were seen working at the Lag B'Omer Jewish festival in Meron, on Friday morning, after at least 44 were killed and 150 injured in a stampede during the overcrowded gathering. Emergency workers arrived and began cleaning the site, and looking for more victims of the disaster. During the stampede, which involved a structure collapsing at the festival, several people slipped, causing dozens more to fall as a consequence. Authorities evacuated the festival and a field hospital was set-up on site, while dozens of ambulances and six helicopter evacuated the injured. The incident took place as tens of thousands of primarily ultra-Orthodox Jews participated in the annual event, around the tomb of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, a 2nd-century Tannaitic sage. The festival was the largest event taking place in the country since the beginning of the pandemic. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the incident a 'heavy disaster.'