Rescuers at Mont Méron, April 30, 2021. – NEW CHINA / SIPA
The tragedy at Mont Méron on April 30 also counts the French among the victims. Two young Franco-Israeli brothers died in the giant stampede that killed 45 people during a Jewish pilgrimage to northern Israel, police and diplomatic sources in Jerusalem said on Sunday.
Israeli police records in Hebrew show two French dead: the brothers Moshe and Yosef ElHadad, aged 12 and 18 respectively. Diplomatic sources in Jerusalem said the two victims were “binational” citizens.
A day of national mourning
Hundreds of people attended the funeral of the two teenagers in Meron on Saturday evening, where the bodies were each covered with a white tallit (prayer shawl). Israel also observed Sunday a day of national mourning in tribute to the victims of the stampede.
The 45 victims were ultra-Orthodox Jews who were taking part in a vast pilgrimage that brought together tens of thousands of people to Mount Méron, the largest gathering held in the country since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. Shortly after midnight, a compact human mass rushed towards the exit, at one point clumping together in a narrow, metallic hallway. Pilgrims then piled on top of each other and several people were crushed to death.