A full video of the Meron disaster was published on Monday by B’Chadrei Chareidim, finally answering the question of whether a barrier was present at the end of Dov Gesher during those tragic moments.
The half-hour video shows the full disaster unfolding, starting with a stream of people smoothly proceeding through the passageway until after the worst had occurred and Hatzalah members and police officers are carrying out rescue efforts.
A bottleneck at the exit to the passageway began forming at 11:43 p.m. and within minutes, the pressure in the passageway became unbearable and people starting calling out for help. During these moments, some people can be seen managing to escape the passageway by climbing up the sides, essentially saving their lives.
The video also reveals the answer to the question of whether a barrier was present at the end of the passageway during those moments – stopping the flow of foot traffic and contributing to the disaster. The video shows beyond any doubt that there was no barrier there at the moments of the disaster and nothing was present that prevented the people from entering or leaving the passageway.
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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13 Responses
Much too painful to view. Such an tragedy can only be a gezaira from Shamayim. We can hypothesize all we want.
Also the Levaya of Rabbi Vozner in Bnei Brak, a lot of people got almost crushed and some died. We all agree that in Bnei Brak there was no barrier. Obviously, in Meron , since there were so many people there, it is part of nature that this can possibly happen even without a barrier.
Lehavdil Elef Havdolos
In Mecca also many people got crushed. You can google it.
“stampede in mecca”
Maybe put a graphic warning before people watch the video!
Is there anyone out there who can actually watch this video?! So sad. Maybe take it down. There’s absolutely no toeles in it. Just pure sadness to watch the kedoshim dying.
One bottom line:- Cannot have 100,000 people in 20 acres.
In all future years, entry shall have to be 2000 to 3000 people for entire Lag b’Omer by strict lottery, and then anyone who gets in on lottery not eligible for lottery in future years until everyone who wishes to go on a future Lag b’Omer has been accommodated.
You don’t see the end of the passageway, You can’t tell whether there is a barrier or not! Is actually does seem that something is blocking as people stop exiting at the end just as the passageway begins to fill with people. Look at the bottom of the ramp all the way in front, people are entering and exiting and then they stop exiting and passageway fills up with people.
Why does this show no barrier? At 30 minutes into the clip – you can clearly see people facing the crowd from in front of the brown hut at the end and walking freely from side to side (guy with white shirt and waving)- how could he be free to do this if there was no barrier stopping the crowd????? Looks like there must have been a barrier there although the barrier itself cannot be seen…….
I mean 18.40 into the video- there are people walking freely facing the crowd……
Every single year that things went smoothly in Meron, we should say thank you to the Almighty for a mind boggling miracle.
Example, 2 years ago about 100,000 people came to Meron and no major story of people getting hurt. That is an open miracle against nature.
100,000 people in a tiny small area and no one got hurt, that is a real miracle.
Every single year in Mecca, people are getting crushed completely. Please google it, you will be shocked at the results.
REMOVE THIS VIDEO ASAP, IT’S ENTIRELY AGAINST EVERY YIDDISHE VALUE TO POST IT. RACHMONIM BNEI RACHMONIM DO NOT SHOW THE PETIRA OF 45 PEOPLE JUST TO SATISFY OUR MORBID CURIOUSITY.
LEAVE THE INVESTIGATION TO THE STATE COMMISSION.
PLEASE YWN, HAVE SOME STANDARDS!
I have a running debate with my boys, ages 5 – 13. I tell them to cross a busy street in Brooklyn (not a wide street, just busy) only at the intersection with the traffic light. They – and many others – cross at a closer intersection, and when I tell them not to, they respond by saying that they and everyone else who crossed there did not get hurt. They (and the other nudniks who cross there) do not understand the concept of probability and risk. They do not understand that the rate of injury at the uncontrolled intersection is undoubted higher than the rate of injury at the controlled intersection. They are kids, and they will understand it when they get older, but there are plenty of nudniks – adults – who never understand the risk and keep taking the risk until something bad happens to them or they see something bad happen to someone else.
I have never been to Meron, and I don’t know whether the risk is obvious or not, but I wonder whether the risk was noticeable, but the attendees were reasoning like young boys.
I see that the video was taken down. I just wanted to let people know – both YWN which decided to take it down as well as those like Ash who felt that it was inappropriate – that for me (and presumably many others in my situation) the video was incredibly important and even healing to watch, as disturbing and sad as it was. In fact I only wish it would have been clearer. I was there on those stairs that night in the disaster, in the middle of all the dead (we had been simply picked off the ground from the Toldos Aharon hadlaka some 100s of meters away and washed down that corridor like drops of water when a tap is opened – I can tell you that from around 00:40 virtually none of the people visible in the video there had any intention of being there at all or in fact even had their feet on the ground for that matter) and as painful as it was to revisit it in this video it provided a closure to many raw, open wounds deep inside – in fact it was something that I had been hoping and waiting for, a chance to finally see what actually happened from ‘outside’. If anyone knows where it is still accessible I would love to know.
By the way to answer Sugya25’s observation that there appears to have been some barrier there even though the video doesn’t show one – which which very accurate, he was spot on – there was indeed a reason why people were trapped both at the bottom of the stairs and at various places before that for that matter, and again I myself was there and went through it with all those people you see there… there were metal handrails – clearly visible for the first part of the video – that were flatted by the sheer weight of the crowd (that in itself is horrific to comprehend) that then trapped people’s feet underneath it, mine included. Baruch she’asani ness bemakom hazeh.
Just to clarify – by 00:40 I meant 12:40am, not 40 seconds into the video