Israel launches probe into deadly religious festival stampede

Jerusalem, Jun 20, (EFE).- Israel’s new government on Sunday agreed to set up a state commission to launch an investigation into the deadly stampede that took place at a Jewish religious festival in April.

Forty-five people died in the stampede when some 100,000 ultra-Orthodox Jews gathered to commemorate the death of a second-century Jewish rabbi at Mount Meron in the northern part of Israel.

“The responsibility for learning the lessons and preventing the next disaster is on our shoulders,” Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said during his first cabinet meeting.

“A commission cannot bring back those who have perished but the government can do everything to prevent unnecessary loss of life in the future,” added Bennett, who took power last week.

The move comes after relatives of the deceased requested an official inquiry into the incident, one of the worst civilian disasters in Israel’s history.

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