There was no information about the Russians killed or injured in the collapse of the tribune and the stampede at a religious holiday on Mount Meron in Israel. This was reported on Friday, April 30, at the Russian Embassy.
“There have been no appeals from specific persons,” the diplomatic mission told RIA Novosti.
They added that the consular section of the embassy is constantly monitoring the situation and is in contact with the Israeli side on this issue.
Earlier that day, Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his condolences to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the tragedy. Netanyahu himself called the incident a “grave disaster.”
The collapse of the tribune during the celebration of the holiday Lag ba-Omer in the area of Mount Meron, which is located in northern Israel, became known earlier that day. Authorities later said the incident occurred when crowds of people poured into the gated complex, resulting in a crush.
As a result, at least 44 people died, local media report 150 injured. Israeli law enforcement agencies have launched an investigation, but the reasons for the tragedy have not yet been announced.
Lag ba-Omer is celebrated on the 18th of the month of Iyar according to the Jewish lunar calendar, which in 2021 fell on the period from sunset on April 29 to late April 30 in the evening. The holiday is established in memory of the end of the epidemic, from which several thousand students of the Jewish theologian Akiva, who lived at the turn of the 1st and 2nd centuries AD, died. e. During this celebration, bonfires are traditionally burned.