“It’s heartbreaking”: Israel buries 45 killed by stampede

JERUSALEM: At the end of Shabbat, The identification of the victims of the stampede resumed in Israel during a religious festival on Mount Merón, after the funerals of 13 of the deceased have already taken place.

A total of 32 of the 45 bodies have been officially identified at the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute in Tel Aviv, and 22 have already been handed over to their relatives. The institute had halted the identification process on Friday evening after an order from the chief rabbi who this task could not continue on Shabbat.

Jewish tradition demands that the dead be buried as soon as possible, which is why many families whose loved ones have been identified sooner. they rushed to do it on Friday before the start of the Jewish Sabbath, with hundreds of people attending many services.

Avigdor Hayut, a resident of Bnei Brak who was injured in the stampede, was due to be released from the hospital to attend the funeral of his 13-year-old son, Yedidia. Hayut said Yedidia’s funeral was originally scheduled for Friday, but the authorities gave him the wrong body, so the funeral was delayed.

“The catastrophe of Mount Merón is one of the most serious that hit the State of Israel»Said the Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who decreed a day of mourning on Sunday.

Among the deceased is the young Argentinian Abraham Daniel Embon, 21, whose parents and brother, residents of Buenos Aires, travel to celebrate the funeral. The victim’s father is Rabbi David Embón of the Sucath David community in the Buenos Aires area of ​​Once.

On Thursday evening, tens of thousands of people gathered to celebrate the Jewish holiday of Lag Ba’Omer on Mount Meron, around the tomb of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, a 2nd century Talmudist who is credited with writing the Zohar, a central work of Jewish mysticism.

Before the disaster, a dense crowd was dancing and singing. The men and women were separated, and many children were present, amid happy bonfires, according to video footage.

In the wee hours of Friday a large number of pilgrims were thronging to cross a very narrow corridor and this is where the stampede occurred. “More and more people came. And the police wouldn’t let her out and they started hugging each other and then crashing, ”said Shmuel, 18, who witnessed the tragedy. “Dozens of people were crushed to death, it was a disaster,” he added.

Following the stampede, ambulances and helicopters were dispatched to evacuate the wounded, But the rescuers’ job was complicated because the number of assistants made it difficult to access the area where the victims were.according to Magen David Adom, the equivalent of the Red Cross in Israel.

What happened is heartbreaking. People have been crushed to death, even childrenNetanyahu spoke at the scene and promised a “Thorough investigation” about this tragedy, the causes of which are not yet clearly established.

The first funeral was held Friday in the ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods of Jerusalem and Bnei Brak on the outskirts of Tel Aviv, where thousands of men in hats and black jackets marched shortly before the weekly Shabbat break.

The disaster could also have political implications at a time of great uncertainty in Israel following the winless elections last March, the fourth in two years. Netanyahu has since failed to form a governing coalition, and the deadline is early next week.

The prime minister must continue to count on the support of ultra-Orthodox parties, his longtime allies, to have any chance of remaining in power.

AFP and AP agencies

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