Israel Buries Dead After Jewish Pilgrim Stampede Kills 45

Israel on Friday was burying victims of a stampede at a Jewish pilgrimage site that killed at least 45 people, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised an investigation into one of the nation's "worst disasters".

The nighttime carnage struck after pilgrims thronged to Meron at the site of the reputed tomb of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, a second-century Talmudic sage, where mainly ultra-Orthodox Jews, or haredim, mark the Lag BaOmer holiday.

The health ministry put the toll at 45 dead. The Magen David Adom rescue agency said an estimated 150 had been injured.

A State Department spokesperson said "multiple US citizens were among the casualties".

With families anxious to bury loved ones before the Shabbat break, funerals were held in Jerusalem and the mainly ultra-Orthodox city of Bnei Brak, where haredi men in traditional long black coats lined the streets to mourn.

Shalom Levy, attending a funeral, called the stampede "a tragedy for the Jewish people".

Among the victims was 38-year-old Elazar Goldberg, whose father called on God to protect his children as his son was laid to rest in Jerusalem.

The pilgrimage was the largest public gathering in Israel since the Covid-19 pandemic erupted last year.

Officials had warned overcrowding could fuel viral spread, and only authorised 10,000 to attend.

Israeli media outlets said 90,000 massed at the site, a figure that could not be immediately confirmed from official sources.

There were conflicting reports about what caused the deadly crush, but multiple witnesses said scores of people trampled each other as they moved through a narrow passage.

"What happened here is heartbreaking. There were people crushed to death, including children," Netanyahu after a visit to the pilgrimage site.

The "Mount Meron disaster" was "one of the worst to hit" Israel since its foundation seven decades ago, Netanyahu added, promising a "thorough, serious and in-depth investigation in order to ensure that such a disaster does not recur".

He later took part in a blood drive for the injured in Jerusalem and declared that Sunday would be a national day of mourning.

Closed last year due to coronavirus restrictions, this year's pilgrimage drew tens of thousands of people who were seen packed together joyfully singing, dancing and lighting bonfires before the deadly crush.

In a cruel irony, the Lag BaOmer holiday celebrates the end of a plague that killed thousands of Talmudic students at the time of Rabbi Bar Yochai.

Some witnesses blamed police for not allowing people to exit through a ramp that could have allowed them to escape the crush.

The police "closed it (the ramp). Then, more people arrived, and more and more... and police wouldn't let them exit, so people started to fall on top of each other", Shmuel, 18, told AFP.

There were also indications that pilgrims sought to burst through iron sheet barricades as the choke-point formed.

"It took me back to the period of (Palestinian militant) bombings. There was chaos, people trying to save themselves as they crushed each other," Dov Maisel of the United Hatzala rescue services said.

Northern Israel's police chief Shimon Lavi said his officers had done all they could to save lives on a "tragic night", helping to ferry those injured to hospital.

Lavi said he was prepared to assume "overall responsibility".

Military and rescue service helicopters evacuated the wounded.

Scenes from Meron after the accident showed an ultra-Orthodox Jewish crowd in distress and debris scattered across the ground.

Survivors lit candles for the victims while others prayed. A row of bodies covered in plastic bags lay on the ground.

Relatives of those affected were flocking to the National Center of Forensic Medicine in Tel Aviv, where victims were being identified, some voicing frustrations over delays as they pushed to claim bodies before Shabbat.

The health ministry said 32 of the bodies had been identified, adding that the process would continue after Judaism's day of rest.

Israel has fully vaccinated more than half of its 9.3 million population against the coronavirus, but restrictions on massive public gatherings remain in place to stem the spread of the virus.

Ultra-Orthodox Jews have throughout the pandemic shown resistance towards health and safety measures mandated by the government.

President Reuven Rivlin received condolence messages including from Australia, the Vatican, King Abdullah II of neighbouring Jordan and from across Europe.

"The loss of life among worshippers practising their faith is heartbreaking," said US President Joe Biden in a statement.

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas expressed sadness "for the tragedy that has cost dozens of lives" and said he sent prayers "for the victims and hope for the recovery of the injured".