As the news of the disaster at Meron first broke out, there were many differing accounts of how it happened, including the collapse of bleachers. However, it quickly became clear that those reports were mistaken.
Instead, the incident occurred as thousands of people made their way down a narrow downward walkway by the Toldos Aharon complex toward the exit of the site. The police, apparently unaware of how many people were in the walkway, blocked the exit for a few minutes for some reason, creating a terrible bottleneck. Meanwhile, people inside were crushed together and toppled on top of each other. The metal floor was also reportedly wet for some reason and some people on the walkway fell and there was a chain reaction, with people on top of the stairs toppling on those below.
“The blockage led to people being compressed,” the witness said. “More and more people who wanted to leave the crowded [Toldos Aharon] plaza entered the passageway, that according to witnesses was also wet.”
“And that’s how the disaster occurred. Hundreds and perhaps thousands of people on the way down, with no exit, with no possibility of moving backward.”
“We were walking and suddenly movement stopped,” one survivor told Channel 12 News. “I saw police blocking the entrance and I yelled: ‘People are dying here!’ Children were fainting in their parents’ arms.”
Another survivor was trapped under people on the walkway for ten minutes before the area was cleared and he was rescued by police.
Another witness to the scene said that contrary to the initial reports, no bleachers collapsed or anything else for that matter. “Nothing collapsed,” he said. “Over the ohel of the Hachnasas Orchim and next to the building of the Rashbi, there’s a passageway to the stairs. There was a bottleneck of people in this passageway. People fell one on top of the other. I can’t even describe to you what it looked like.”
“People were lying on top of each other in piles,” another witness said. “It’s unfathomable what happened here.”
A statement from the Justice Ministry’s Police Internal Investigations Department (PIID) on Friday said that an investigation into possible police negligence in the disaster will be opened immediately. Police investigators have already been at the site to gather evidence and all videos of the disaster are being reviewed.
[MERON VICTIMS: 24 Bochurim And Boys, 4 Mir Talmidim, At Least 6 US Citizens, 2 Canadians]
[HEARTBREAKING: List Of Niftarim R”L Killed In Meron Crush Released]
[How Exactly Did The Terrible Disaster At Meron Occur?]
[Father’s Heartrending Hesped For His Son: “You’re Now In Rebbe Shimon’s Yeshiva”]
[WATCH: 10-Yr.-Old Meron Survivor: “I Cried Out Shema Yisrael”]
[“People Were Crushed To Death Before My Eyes” – Survivors Of The Harrowing Scenes Talk]
[Chareidi Reporter Warned Of This Very Tragedy In 2018!]
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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16 Responses
So the wicked ruling Zionists caused scores of Jews to die, and their families to mourn their losses.
when you read the article you get the reason / FOR SOME REASON \that says it all
hashem yerachem
Clearly, in future years, admittance to Meron can only be by strict invitation & lottery with no more than say 2000-3000 throughout entire ל”ג ב”עומר. Thereafter anyone who got in thru lottery, cannot be eligible for lottery in future years, to give other people a chance to go to Meron in future ל”ג ב”עומר
Start looking at the top. The public health and safety professionals begged the government to either limit the event as they did last year during the pandemic or severely cap the number of people allowed to attend at about 10,000, all of whom were supposed to be checked for vaccination. Netanyahu is desperate to retain support from the religious parties so he overruled his own experts and ordered that no enforceable restrictions be imposed. I’m sure some police at the site did not use common sense when they blocked the only exit but those crowds should never have been allowed in the first place.
Internal Police Investigation?
They are going to wash it under the carpet as misinformation and will say “these people are Anti Zionist who cares”.
Watch the videos of how the police treated, treats FRUM human beings.
Heartless, thoughless, indifferent to human life.
The verdict must be 1) the police is negligence in death of everyone.
2) Indictment of the police officers that closed off passageway.
3) inquiries into who gave the order to close the passage way.
4) Life time imprisonments of those acted with cruelty and did not immediately open up.
Do you think that Supreme Court is going to hold the Police Accountable?
NEVER IN MILLION YEARS.
They are still denying that they stole Yemenit Kids at Child birth.
Israeli investigation means enough time to WHITE WASH and pretend that they, the police, the government are sorry.
National day of mourning?
One minute of silence?
Who are they kidding?
We also have to fetch up major league.
And must ADOPT AHAVAS CHINAM TO ALL JEWS.
Abselout
Without preconditions.
AHAVAS CHINAM.
Don’t throw stones when you see non religious Jew.
Smile !!
Engage in polite conversation !!
Rasbi was flanked by Hakodosh Baruch Hu for criticizing Jews after he came out of his cave and was told by HaShem to go back until you can tolerate “working Jews”.
The only video evidence of police blocking a passage that I have seen is of police trying to prevent throngs of people from walking down the above pictured ramp leading to the fatal steps. This was in order to prevent the outcome. For reasons unknown, the crowd argues and pushes past them, leading to this unspeakable loss of life.
whatever the mistakes of police and taavot of politicians – it started with people’s demands. Unless people who put themselves in situations against health and safety regulations change their attitude, not much will change in a democracy.
we are all with broken harts lets do teshuve and pray should not happen again these stuff
Yes, by all means, let’s blame everyone but ourselves!
I guess the fact that people insisted to have themselves packed like sardines in a space clearly not meant for such numbers, had nothing to do with the outcome!?!?
Too all of you who blame the “too many people” who “shouldn’t’ve come” and “pack themselves like sardines”:
Can you give me the names of specific people who are complicit here? Which 100K people shouldn’t have come and which ones were right for coming? We don’t understand why Hashem does what he does, but if there was any negligence it would be in crowd control, not the crowd itself. Saying otherwise is ridiculous.
We can’t reverse history, but we can help the the niftarim by learning l’ilui nishmasam
take a masechta of MISHNAYOS for the Sheloshim https://www.lzechernishmas.com/signup.php?id=8588
or a masechta of GEMORA for the Yahrzeit https://www.lzechernishmas.com/signup.php?id=8589
We can’t reverse history, but we can help the the niftarim by learning l’ilui nishmasam
or a masechta of GEMORA for the Yahrzeit https://www.lzechernishmas.com/signup.php?id=8589
take a masechta of MISHNAYOS for the Sheloshim https://www.lzechernishmas.com/signup.php?id=8588
Don’t be so quick to vilify the police. I read an eyewitness account that said that someone had suffered a heart attack and the police temporarily blocked the exit so they could evacuate the man. At that time, the passageway was empty.
I have seen a video clip, of police not allowing Hatzala come in to help the hurt people.. they shut the gate and refused the help to enter!! no wonder they’re called nazis!!
mom12, they are nazis. i live in israel. the israeli police view the public, particularly charedim, as the enemy. the police are not police. they are soldiers in a dark blue uniform. they think they are war with the public. and they get away literally with murder all the time.