Israel stampede: Dozens crushed to death at major religious festival

At least 44 people have been killed during a stampede at a religious festival in northeast Israel on Friday, in what rescue services described as “one of [Israel’s] worst disasters in recent history”. More than 150 people were injured, according to medical officials, with Army Radio reporting that children were among the dead. Footage taken moments before the disaster at Mount Meron showed crowds of worshippers crushed in a narrow, tunnel-like passage as they exited the site. One man, identified only as Dvir, told Army Radio that “masses of people” were pushed into the same corner, creating a “vortex”.