Israel incident: Plenti pipo die for Lag B'Omer religious festival

At least 44 pipo don die as dem crash for one crowded religious festival for di north-east of Israel.

Plenty oda pipo wunjure for di Lag B'Omer festival, wey dey happen everi year for di foot of Mount Meron.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu describe di incident as "heavy disaster" and im don go di scene to go check how tins be.

Tens of thousands of Traditional Jews attend di festival, wey make am di largest event for Israel since di coronavirus pandemic start.

Israel successful vaccination programme allow di country to lift many of dia restrictions, but health officials bin warn say Covid19 still dey.

Tori be say one part of di structure bin collapse but emergency officials later tok say di crush happun for Thursday night.

Police sources tell Haaretz newspaper di structure start to collapse after some attendees begin fall on top each oda.

"Di tin happen sharp sharp; pipo just fall as dem begin march dia sef. Dat tin na disaster," one witness tell di newspaper.

Video wey dey online show thousands of pipo dey struggle to escape through one narrow passage.

Loudhailer message tell pipo comot, before police request di full evacuation of di site.

"No-person imagine say dis kain tin fit happun here," one pilgrim tell Channel 12 TV. "Rejoicing become mourning, great light become deep darkness."

Dozens of ambulance attend di scene as emergency service spread deadi bodi under foil covers for ground. Helicopters carry di pipo wey wunjure go hospital, while di military say dem don deploy search-and-rescue troops.

At least 150 pipo wunjure, officials tok, including 38 pipo wey dey critical condition for di site.

Children follow for di disaster wey happun, and witnesses tok say dem see paramedics dey perform CPR on top some of dem.

Earlier dat day, officials tok say dem no fit enforce coronavirus restrictions because of di number of crowd.

Police also tok say dem don arrest two pipo wey try stop dia efforts to maintain order before di crush happun.

---

Israel na nation wey dey in shock. Di na di worst civilian disaster for Israel modern history.

Pipo dey ask questions about how dis annual celebration turn into dis kain tragedy.

Police - wey dey in charge of public security for site - bin don see crowd wey pass dis one and pipo don dey criticise dem. Dem sef don start dia own investigation.

For Mount Meron, di current situation no good at all and hundreds of buses still dey try transport pipo comot for di scene.

Meanwhile, many families don really struggle to get news of dia loved ones due to di high number of pipo wey deymake calls at di same time.

Dem never fit even identify some deadi bodi and burial no fit happun until after di Jewish Sabbath, wey dey start for evening. Some leading rabbis don call for prayers to support di bereaved and pipo wey wunjure.

---

'No place to move'

Witnesses don describe di panic as di crush wan start.

"Di place dey crowded and chance no dey for anybody to move," one attendee tell di BBC. "Pipo start to fall for ground."

"All of a sudden we see paramedics... wey dey run," another attendee, Shlomo Katz, tok. "One after di other na so pipo begin come out...den we understand say something dey happen here."

"Over 1,000 pipo together try to go down one very, very small place, very narrow road and dem just fall on top of each other," tok Yanki Farber, reporter with di Orthodox Jewish website Behadrei Haredim.

Emergency worker tell AFP news agency say im see "dozens of pipo fall on top of one another" and "large number of dem crush and lose consciousness".

"I never see anything like diis since I enter into di field of emergency medicine," Lazar Hyman, volunteer rescue worker, tell AFP.

Another first responder, Dov Maisel, tell BBC: "We just finish to treat one of Israel worst disasters.

"A terrible disaster of pipo wey came to celebrate... and unfortunately dem crush to death," im tok.

Wetin be Lag B'Omer festival?

Tens of thousands of Traditional Jews make pilgrimage go Meron everi year for Lag B'Omer, a religious holiday wey dem dey mark with all-night bonfires, prayer and dancing.

Di town na di tomb of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, one revered Second-Century sage, wey ordain say make dem dem dey always celebrate im death during im anniversary.

Di site dey mostly gender-segregated as men and women no dey stay togehter. Images and video suggest say di crush happen for one of di men section.

According to di Times of Israel, organiser estimate say 100,000 pipo arrive di place on Thursday night, with more pipo due to come on Friday.

Attendance dey higher than last year, when dem hold di festival under restrictions due to di coronavirus pandemic.

But di number still small pass oda years, when hundreds of thousands of pipo participate for di event.