2 killed, over 160 hurt as synagogue bleacher collapses near Jerusalem
Deadly incident in Givat Ze’ev occurs at celebrations just before start of Shavuot holiday; police say the unfinished building wasn’t approved for use
Two people were killed and 167 injured, including five seriously, when a bleacher collapsed under celebrants in a Givat Ze’ev synagogue just before the start of the Shavuot festival on Sunday evening.
A video showed the ultra-Orthodox Karlin synagogue in the West Bank settlement, just north of Jerusalem, packed with male worshipers when the bleacher suddenly collapsed.
The wounded were taken to hospitals in Jerusalem. Medics and firefighters confirmed there were no people trapped beneath the bleacher after searching the area.
Magen David Adom said medics treated five people who were seriously injured, along with 10 people in moderate condition and 152 who suffered light injuries.
Medics later confirmed the deaths of a 40-year-old man and a 12-year-old boy. They were not immediately identified.
Some large ultra-Orthodox events feature bleachers, known as “tribunas” in Israel, which are packed with standing or dancing parishioners surrounding a central table where community leaders are seated.
The father of one of the injured told the Kan public broadcaster that just ten minutes before the collapse, attendees were told in a safety announcement to stop pushing one another.
Defense Minister Benny Gantz said his heart went out to the victims. “IDF forces led by the Home Front Command and the Air Force are working to assist in the evacuation. I pray for the safety of the wounded,” he said.
The synagogue is located in an incomplete building and had not been approved for use, the police commander of the Jerusalem District told reporters.
Documents published by the Kan public broadcaster showed the police and the Givat Ze’ev municipality trying to enforce an order banning Shavuot services at the unfinished Karlin synagogue.
In the documents, police warned the local council about the danger of allowing services at the building, which did not have an occupancy permit. However, when the local council asked police to step in to enforce the closure, police responded that it was the council’s job.
A spokesperson for the police told Channel 13 News that the force plans to investigate the deadly collapse.
The incident came 16 days after the Meron disaster, in which 45 people were crushed to death during a mass gathering of mainly ultra-Orthodox Jews to celebrate the Lag B’Omer holiday at Mount Meron.
The Meron tragedy — Israel’s deadliest civilian peacetime disaster — occurred as thousands streamed through a narrow walkway at the southern exit of the Toldot Aharon compound on the mountain. The walkway was covered with metal flooring and may have been wet, causing some people to fall underfoot during the rush for the exit. Some apparently fell on the walkway and down a flight of stairs at its end, toppling onto those below and precipitating a fatal crushing domino effect.
Since the disaster, several former police chiefs have characterized Meron — Israel’s second-most visited Jewish holy site after the Western Wall — as a kind of extraterritorial facility. It was administered by several ultra-Orthodox groups, while the National Center for the Protection of Holy Places, part of the Ministry of Religious Affairs, apparently had some responsibility over it as well, as did the local authority, and the police. But ultimately, no single state body had full responsibility.
3 comments:
Maybe the Karlin-Stolin women should be dressing more modestly.
Groups of pro-Palestinian protesters attacked Jews in 2 separate incidents in Los Angeles this week.
Authorities are investigating the incidents as hate crimes.
In an altercation Tues night recorded on video, men waving Palestinian flags attacked diners at a sushi restaurant in the neighborhood of Beverly Grove, throwing punches, bottles & other objects. The diners included a group of Jews.
A man at the scene who was not Jewish, told CBS he & his group also were attacked & pepper-sprayed when he tried to defend the Jews. He added the attackers used anti-Semitic language to determine who at the restaurant was Jewish.
In an incident Mon night recorded by security camera, a Hasidic Jewish man was chased by a caravan of Palestinian supporters. He escaped unharmed.
LA Mayor Eric Garcetti, tweeted the LAPD's “investigating this assault as a hate crime & we'll respond with the full force of the law.”
“LA's a city of belonging, not hate. There's simply no place for anti-Semitism, discrimination, or prejudice of any kind in Los Angeles. We'll never tolerate bigotry & violence in our communities.”
Police Officer Jader Chaves confirmed: “We're investigating ADW (assault with deadly weapon), hate crime,” Chaves told The AP.
LA's ADL chapter Tweeted it's “outraged” over the attack: “Violent attacks while yelling anti-Semitic slurs is a hate crime”
Sinai Temple, LA’s largest Conservative temple, emailed members acknowledging the attack & calling on law enforcement “to seek out the perpetrators, prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law & make clear crimes of hate won't be tolerated in our city or country. We at Sinai who stand with Israel won't succumb to intimidation,” the temple rabbis & cantor wrote.
(There must already be a fixed outcome of the "investigation" oib azoi:)
The head of UTJ-Agudah today threw his backing behind a state commission of inquiry into the deadly Lag baOmer crush that killed 45 people, including many children.
No arrests have been made since the tragedy, the deadliest civilian disaster in Israeli history.
UTJ-Agudah MK Moshe Gafni chairs the Knesset Finance Committee, which held a session Tues on the disaster at Mt Meron in northern Israel. In a letter to PM Bibi Netanyahu, he said the committee agreed the “correct way” to proceed's a commission of inquiry, led by a Supreme Court judge.
Gafni also said he'd chair further meetings “for solutions so it won't happen again. I believe it's the way to legal solution re sanctuaries & ownership at Meron + comfort for families of the dead,” he wrote.
He asked Bibi to establish a state commission to investigate & “make recommendations to allow regulation of the site in terms of halacha, engineering & safety.”
It's unclear if Bibi'd allow a commission. While Bibi said he backs a thorough investigation, he hasn't backed a state commission of inquiry.
Today’s letter marked a reversal for Gafni. Gafni suggested in Tuesday’s meeting a committee led by the chief rabbi address problems at Meron, drawing ridicule.
Also Wednesday, Yesh Atid party — which seeks to replace Bibi as PM following March elections — said it'd seek to fast-track a state commission to investigate the disaster in a vote next week, suggesting possible cross-bloc support.
Earlier, Attorney General Mandelblit announced a joint investigative team from the Police & Justice Ministry’s PIID will probe the deadly incident.
Police & PIID had already launched independent probes. State Comptroller Englman's also investigating.
There are increasing demands for a state commission of inquiry, with focus on organization of the annual Lag B’Omer events.
The disaster near the grave of 2nd-century sage Rabbi Bar Yochai, took place when huge crowds made their way on a narrow walkway with slippery flooring that ended in flights of stairs. People slipped & fell, others fell on them & a calamitous crush ensued.
The site, 2nd-most visited in Israel after the Western Wall, became extraterritorial, with separate Haredi sects organizing their own events & access, with no overall supervision & police pressured by cabinet ministers & Haredi politicos not to object.
Ex-police officials said there were fears for years that tragedy could strike due to the massive crowds & lack of supervision.
Multiple reports indicate immense pressure by religious lawmakers ahead of festivities to ensure no limits placed on the number of attendees due to COVID.
100,000 Haredi pilgrims ultimately attended. A framework drawn up by the Health Ministry, with other officials & police, limiting to 9,000 participants wasn't implemented.
In another incident Sunday, 2 were killed & 167 injured, including 5 seriously, when a bleacher collapsed under celebrants in a Givat Ze’ev synagogue just before the start of Shavuot.
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