.jpg) Tomb of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, 2016   Tomb of Rabbi Bar-Yochai | |
| Date | 30 April 2021 |
|---|---|
| Time | c. 00:50 IDT (UTC+03:00) |
| Location | Tomb of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, Meron, Israel |
| Coordinates | 32°58′50.3″N 35°26′25.5″E / 32.980639°N 35.440417°E |
| Cause | Under investigation; includes over-crowding in Lag BaOmer celebration |
| Participants | Haredi and Orthodox Jews |
| Deaths | 45 |
| Non-fatal injuries | 150 |
| Inquiries | Ongoing |
On 30 April 2021, at about 00:45 IDT (UTC+3), a deadly crowd crush occurred on Mount Meron, Israel, during the annual pilgrimage to the tomb of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai on the Jewish holiday of Lag BaOmer, at which it was estimated that 100,000 people were in attendance. Forty-five men and boys at the event were killed, and about 150 were injured, dozens of them critically, making it the deadliest civil disaster in the history of the State of Israel.[1][2] The crush occurred after celebrants poured out of one section of the mountainside compound, down a passageway with a sloping metal floor wet with spilled drinks, leading to a staircase continuing down. Witnesses say that people tripped and slipped near the top of the stairs. Those behind, unaware of the blockage ahead, continued. The people further down were trampled over, crushed, and asphyxiated by compression,[3] calling out that they could not breathe.
The potential for such a calamity, given the tens of thousands of celebrants, had been reported by the state comptroller and the police chief. The local council had tried several times to close the site.[4] Reuters cited Israeli media outlets in reporting that, as a precaution against the COVID-19 pandemic in the country, bonfire areas had been partitioned off, which may have created unrecognised choke-points.[5] It was later pointed out that the bonfires were not all lit at the same time, as in the past; this allowed people who had seen one lighting to go see another, increasing crowds.
On 10 May 2021, police arrested the safety engineer who approved the Lag BaOmer celebration and his assistant. Investigators said that senior police officers should be questioned, as suspects rather than witnesses. On 27 June, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Israel, Esther Hayut, announced that a three-paneled state commission of inquiry would be chaired by her predecessor, former Supreme Court Chief Miriam Naor, with the other two members consisting of former Bnei Brak mayor Rabbi Mordechai Karlitz and Aluf (ret.) Shlomo Yanai.[6] In Israel, such a commission of inquiry has the powers to subpoena witnesses and issue recommendations to the government.
- ^ Joffre, Tzvi. "Israel works to identify 45 killed in Lag Ba'omer Mount Meron stampede". The Jerusalem Post. Archived from the original on 29 April 2021. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
- ^ ""There are casualties, the event is over!": The moment of the disaster, live from Mount Meron". Ynet (in Hebrew). Archived from the original on 2 May 2021. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
- ^ Daniel, Donald Theodore Gordon; Alpert, Evan Avraham; Jaffe, Eli (21 July 2022). "The Crowd Crush at Mount Meron: Emergency Medical Services Response to a Silent Mass Casualty Incident". Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness. 16 (6): 2691–2693. doi:10.1017/dmp.2022.162. ISSN 1935-7893. PMID 35861143. S2CID 250731861.
- ^ Kingsley, Patrick; Kershner, Isabel (5 May 2021). "Deadly Stampede at Israeli Religious Festival Followed Years of Warnings". New York Times.
- ^ Williams, Dan; Rabinovitch, Ari (30 April 2021). "Israel seeks to identify many of 45 dead in crush at religious festival". Reuters. Archived from the original on 2 May 2021. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
- ^ "Mount Meron: Ex-chief justice appointed to head state inquiry panel." The Jerusalem Post, June 27, 2021.