The Lag BaOmer celebrations in Meron were a great success this year, compared to the transportation collapses of recent years.
According to a report by Ziv Hospital in Safed, there were also fewer cases requiring treatment in the medical center's emergency room this year than in previous years.
However, rescue volunteers and media personnel are warning of a tangible danger during the lighting of the bonfire by the Rebbe of Tolodot Aharon, in a plaza located not far from the Rashbi's memorial - an unforgettable spiritual experience that marks the end of the day of the celebration.
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In a place where tens of thousands of people are crowded together, there is a terrible pressure, along with urgency and chaos. And what's worse: there is only one narrow exit path.
All this, when the weather conditions are terrible and people are in constant need.
""What's happening here is crazy. Wow," says Laharedim 10, Kh. A., a volunteer with a rescue organization. "Between evacuations and evacuations of people, and there were a lot of them, I managed to film it. There was chaos and riots with police. Terrible pushing and crazy congestion, both on the access roads and in the Toldot Aharon plaza.".
According to him, "There is negligence on the part of the police who let thousands of people enter such a crowded place. There were a lot of evacuations. The police disregarded this place.".
Aryeh Erlich, deputy editor of the newspaper 'Mishpacha', also tweeted on his Twitter account: "First note of order: The narrow exit path leading from the lighting ceremony of the Toldot Aharon Hasidic shrine creates a human bottleneck and terrible pressure, to the point of real danger of being crushed - and this is the only exit (!).
""If we want to prevent a recurrence of the incident at the funeral of Rabbi Wasner, the lighting of the funeral pyre is prohibited at the site, before creating a wide and controlled exit.".
One of the celebrants at the event, a resident of Antwerp, told Haredim 10: "I was there. There was an international failure there. Terrible, terrible pressure. Almost like inside the Zion itself! And access routes in the event of rescue or rescue only existed when the helicopters landed.".
PR and real estate agent Haim Hoffman: "I was there in real time when it happened. Only miracles! Only miracles! There could have been several dozen 'dead' there and I'm not exaggerating. Anyone who was there a few hours ago in the plaza below - not on the Farnese - knows exactly what I mean.
We have not yet been able to receive a response from the police.
Since the beginning of the main events of the Lag BaOmer celebration in Meron - starting yesterday and continuing until the evening hours today - 42 people who needed medical treatment were treated in the emergency room at Ziv Medical Center and evacuated by MDA, rescue forces and family members.
Among the injuries treated were: bruises resulting from falls, injuries, dehydration, cuts, and bites. People suffering from chronic illnesses were also treated, whose condition was worsened by the high temperatures, the haze, the terrain conditions, and the lack of appropriate medications, which were not in their possession.
In addition, teenagers and adults were treated for alcohol poisoning. One person was treated for a suspected snakebite, as well as a 71-year-old pedestrian who was slightly injured after being hit by a vehicle.
""The injured were mostly treated in the complex itself by MDA, and the patients who were transferred to Zivo arrived as quickly as possible from Miron. Some were hospitalized in Zivo for continued treatment and observation," the hospital said.
