Holy Land: Catholic leaders send condolences on deaths at religious festival

Source: Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem/ICN

The Assembly of Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land sent condolences this morning, to the President of Israel, Mr Reuven Rivlin, on the death of 44 citizens who lost their lives in the catastrophic stampede which took place last night, on Mount Meron in Galilee during a celebration attended by tens of thousands of Jews on the occasion of Lag Ba'Omer, at the tomb of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yohai.

The members of the Assembly also expressed their condolences to the families of the victims and their prayers for the recovery of the tens of people who were injured in the incident.

Tens of thousands of people had gathered on Mount Meron for the Jewish holiday of Lag Ba'Omer which commemorates the Jewish rebellion of 132 AD against the Roman legions. This was the first mass event permitted by the authorities since the start of the pandemic. According to some sources the number of people attending was three times higher than authorised.

The army and emergency departments deployed dozens of helicopters to evacuate the wounded.

"This is one of the worst tragedies I have ever experienced," said Lazar Hyman of the United Hatzalah Volunteer Rescue Service, who was at the scene of the accident that occurred around midnight.