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Friday, April 30, 2021

30 April 2021 -- Festival honoring Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai - Israeli ultra-orthodox worshippers killed in stampede

 from NBC NEWS dot-com online breaking News article

At least 44 people were killed and more than 150 were injured in a stampede at a religious festival in northern Israel, medical officials said Friday. It was one of the country's deadliest civilian disasters.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said children were among the dead, and he declared a national day of mourning Sunday 2 May 2021.

The stampede occurred during celebrations of Lag BaOmer, at Mount Meron, the resting place of a second century sage and mystic, Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai.

Each year, tens of thousands of people, mostly ultra-Orthodox Jews, gather to celebrate the rabbi and traditionally light bonfires as part of the celebrations.

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