‘Dozens of dead’ in Israel pilgrimage stampede: rescue services

Accident occurred as tens of thousands of mainly ultra-Orthodox Jews were participating in a religious pilgrimage.

Dozens of people were killed in a stampede at a Jewish pilgrimage site in the north of Israel on Friday, rescue services said. Magen David Adom, the Israeli emergency service, posted the updated toll on Twitter, adding “MDA is fighting for the lives of dozens wounded, and will not give up until the last victim is evacuated.” 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 Meron, around the reputed tomb of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, a second-century Talmudic sage.