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Medics work to identify the 45 killed in Israeli stampede

Medics work to identify the 45 killed in Israeli stampede

RAMI AMICHAY, DAN WILLIAMS and ARI RABINOVITCH MEDICAL teams have begun the work to identify 45 people crushed to death in a stampede at a religious festival on the slopes of Israel's Mount Meron, with children among the dead. Witnesses spoke of seeing a "pyramid" of people who were asphyxiated or trampled in a passageway around 3 metres (10 feet) wide at the crowded event in the Galilee. Tens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews had thronged to the tomb of 2nd-century sage Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai for the annual Lag B'Omer commemorations that include all-night prayer, mystical songs and dance.…
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Braving coronavirus, pilgrims flock to Senegal’s ‘little Mecca’

Braving coronavirus, pilgrims flock to Senegal’s ‘little Mecca’

CHRISTOPHER VAN DER PERRE ORGANISERS of an annual religious festival in the Senegalese city of Touba are expecting three to five million pilgrims this week, despite the main ceremony being cancelled in an effort to lower the risk of coronavirus contagion. Other events are being video-streamed to avoid overcrowding, but no restrictions are in place to prevent followers of the Mouride Brotherhood from making the trip to the sacred site. The expected crowds would represent a marked departure from religious gatherings and sports events around the world that have been cancelled or severely curtailed to reduce the risk of COVID-19…
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