(GNB Desk)- A stampede at a religious festival attended by tens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews in northern Israel has killed at least 44 people and injured about 150 early Friday, according to medical officials.
The stampede occurred as tens of thousands of mainly ultra-Orthodox Jews were participating in an annual pilgrimage for the feast of Lag BaOmer, in Mount Meron, around the reputed tomb of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, a second-century Talmudic sage.
The incident began when large numbers of people trying to exit the site thronged a narrow tunnel-like passage, according to witnesses. People began falling on top of each other near the end of the walkway, as they descended slippery metal stairs, witnesses said to the media.
On social media, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called it a “heavy disaster” and added: “We are all praying for the wellbeing of the casualties.”
Netanyahu arrived at the scene of a stampede on Friday, with television images showing the veteran premier touring the site of the incident.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu travelled to the scene and said Sunday would be a day of national mourning. He said in a tweet- “the Mount Meron disaster is one of the heaviest disasters to befall the State of Israel. We mourn the victims, our hearts with the families and also with the wounded we wish for their full recovery”.
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