Israel resumes burying victims of religious festival crush

Israel yesterday resumed the identification and burial of dozens of people who were crushed to death at a religious event.

Forty-five people were killed and more than were 100 injured at the ultra-Orthodox Jewish festival of Lag BaOmer on the slopes of Israel’s Mount Meron, held overnight between Thursday and Friday.

The Health Ministry said 32 of the dead were identified before the process was paused for 24 hours on Friday for observance of the Sabbath.

More than 20 of the injured were still in hospital on Friday.

Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, the UAE’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation, phoned Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Gabi Ashkenazi on Friday to convey his condolences to the Israeli government and the families of the victims, state news agency Wam reported.

Several of the dead and injured were American citizens, the US Embassy said yesterday, as criticism grew over what was described as one of Israel’s worst peacetime disasters.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry said on Friday that consulate officials in New York were in contact with four families of victims and the Israeli embassy in Argentina was in contact with one family.

Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that two Canadians were killed.

The cause of the crush has not yet been confirmed.

The Justice Ministry said investigators would look into whether there had been any police misconduct connected to the incident and that police had started their own investigation.