Israel stampede survivor ‘heard screams of worshippers being trampled’ as 44 killed – World News

Eye-witnesses have given devastating accounts of the horror they saw during a deadly stampede that left more than 40 people dead in northern Israel.

One said they heard screaming from worshippers who were being trampled before seeing the dead bodies.

Another told local media the whole incident happened in seconds which they described as a ‘disaster.’

Others claimed police had blocked a gate as frantic revellers tried to escape.

At least 44 people have been killed during the ‘disastrous’ crush at a religious bonfire festival in Israel on Friday, a death toll that reportedly includes children.

Video of the horrifying tragedy posted on social media appears to show thousands of revellers fleeing as frantic police officers tear down metal barriers with their bare hands.

Medics confirmed that dozens of people had been killed and more hurt at the Lag B’Omer event in northern Mount Meron, where tens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews were gathered.

Speaking to Haaretz one eye-witness, who helped treat the injured and was identified as Avi, said: “I had just sat down to eat when I heard the screams.

“We rushed to help, and then we saw the bodies. At the start it was about 10. Now, there’s many more.”

Another witness told the publication: “It happened in a split second; people just fell, trampling each other. It was a disaster.”

Two other witnesses said that a police barricade had prevented people from exiting and caused overcrowding.

One man told Hebrew-language newspaper Maariv: “We were at the entrance, we decided we wanted to get out and then the police blocked the gate, so whoever wanted to get out could not get out.

“In that hurry, we fell on each other, I thought I was going to die. I saw people dead next to me.”

Footage from the scene showed men clamber through gaps in sheets of torn corrugated iron to escape the crush, as police and paramedics tried to reach the wounded.

Other witnesses said people had been asphyxiated or trampled in a tightly packed passageway, some going unnoticed until the PA system sounded an appeal to disperse.

Ambulance officials described the incident as a stampede and said 103 people had been injured, including dozens fatally.

Shlomo Katz, 36, told Reuters: “We were standing and waiting for our friends, we were going to go inside for the dancing and stuff and all of a sudden we saw paramedics from MDA running by, like mid-CPR on kids.”

He then saw ambulances come out “one after the other” and realised something had gone badly wrong, “and we just went to the side as the ambulances were driving in and out and we waited until we were able to slowly get out.”

The site is mostly gender-segregated and bystander video suggested the crush took place in one of the men’s sections.

One pilgrim who gave his name as Yitzhak told Channel 12 TV: “We thought maybe there was a (bomb) alert over a suspicious package.

“No one imagined that this could happen here. Rejoicing became mourning, a great light became a deep darkness.”

As rescue workers tried to remove the casualties, police shut down the site and ordered revellers out.

With the site later cleared, rescue workers collapsed against railings, some weeping as their colleagues comforted them, according to video distributed by medical responders.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called it a “heavy disaster”, adding on Twitter : “We are all praying for the wellbeing of the casualties.”