Israel holds day of mourning for stampede victims - CGTN

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Ultra-Orthodox Jewish man reacts in front of a newspaper's front page with the Hebrew words "National Mourning", at the site where dozens were crushed to death in a stampede at a religious festival, as the country observes a day of mourning, at Mount Meron, Israel. (REUTERS/Amir Cohen)

Ultra-Orthodox Jewish man reacts in front of a newspaper's front page with the Hebrew words "National Mourning", at the site where dozens were crushed to death in a stampede at a religious festival, as the country observes a day of mourning, at Mount Meron, Israel. (REUTERS/Amir Cohen)

Israel is holding a day of mourning today to remember the 45 people killed in a stampede at the Lag BaOmer celebrations, a Jewish religious festival attended by ultra-Orthodox Jews in Mt. Meron, northern Israel, early Friday.

More than 100,000 attended the festival.

The stampede has been described as one of the worst peacetime disasters since the nation's founding in 1948.

It happened as tens of thousands of people thronged the reputed tomb of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai to commemorate the second-century Talmudic sage's death.

Officials have come under growing scrutiny for ignoring warnings about safety lapses at one of Israel’s most visited holy sites.

Ultra-Orthodox Jews mourn during the funeral of Moshe Ben Shalom at a cemetery in Petah Tikva, Israel, Friday, April 30, 2021. Ben Shalom was a victim in Friday's stampede. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

Ultra-Orthodox Jews mourn during the funeral of Moshe Ben Shalom at a cemetery in Petah Tikva, Israel, Friday, April 30, 2021. Ben Shalom was a victim in Friday's stampede. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

Ultra-Orthodox Jews mourn during the funeral of Moshe Ben Shalom at a cemetery in Petah Tikva, Israel, Friday, April 30, 2021. Ben Shalom was a victim in Friday's stampede. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

Ultra-Orthodox Jews mourn during the funeral of Moshe Ben Shalom at a cemetery in Petah Tikva, Israel, Friday, April 30, 2021. Ben Shalom was a victim in Friday's stampede. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

Israel's national flag is lowered to half-mast as the country observes a day of mourning after the death of 45 ultra-Orthodox Jews in a stampede last Friday, at the plaza in front of the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem's Old City. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

Israel's national flag is lowered to half-mast as the country observes a day of mourning after the death of 45 ultra-Orthodox Jews in a stampede last Friday, at the plaza in front of the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest prayer site, in Jerusalem's Old City. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)

Flags are lowered to half mast on May 2, 2021, in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv as the country held a national day of mourning for 45 men and boys killed in a stampede at a packed ultra-Orthodox Jewish festival. (Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP)

Flags are lowered to half mast on May 2, 2021, in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv as the country held a national day of mourning for 45 men and boys killed in a stampede at a packed ultra-Orthodox Jewish festival. (Photo by JACK GUEZ / AFP)

With input from the AP.

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