Dozens die at religious festival in Israel

According to details, dozens of people found dead leaving around 150 others injured after a stampede broke out on a big crowd at a religious festival.

The stamped occurred when a large number of people were trying to flee through a narrow tunnel-like passage. People started falling on top of each other and dozens of people were crushed losing their consciousness.

"It happened in a split second; people just fell, trampling each other. It was a disaster," according to a witness who told an international news agency.

After the incident, the emergency services reached the scene and laid out the dead bodies covering them. The injured were rescued and transferred to the hospital for treatment through a helicopter.

Israeli prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced that Sunday will be the official day of Mourning and the flags will be lowered for half an hour on all the public buildings.

However, the people who witnessed the incident are perplexed and have questions that how the situation spiralled out of control so quickly, though there never have been such causality before due to the safety protocols followed.

The religious leaders have also called for an investigation.

Tens of thousands of ultra-orthodox Jewish attend the pilgrimage for the feast of Lag BaOmer, in Mount Meron which is held annually.

The festival was banned last year due to COVID protocols, however, it was allowed this year as 54 per cent of the Israel population has been vaccinated.

This year, almost 90,000 people were attending the Lag B’Omer gathered around the reputed tomb of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, a second-century Talmudic sage.