NFPA Journal - Fall 2021 - 60

Perspectives
other; police trying to block off the area while
people inside were still straining to exit. The paramedics
did everything they could ... All those lives
... May their memories be a blessing. Thank God I
was freed. "
If this were an account of only one horrific
crowd crush, that would be enough. However, I
believe the recent tragedy in Israel yields important
lessons regarding the way event organizers
should think about life safety and the codes that
guide our decisions, and how the law unreasonably
penalizes victims for attitudes and
perceptions that are woven into the fabric of many
events.
To understand the significance of everyone
OPINION
IN MY TRIBE
A CROWD-CRUSH INCIDENT IN ISRAEL HIGHLIGHTS
THE PERILS OF COLLECTIVE INVULNERABILITY THAT
CAN OVERTAKE PARTICIPANTS AT LIVE EVENTS.
FOR THE AUTHOR, IT OFFERS FURTHER IMPETUS TO
UPDATE CROWD-MANAGEMENT PROVISIONS IN THE
LIFE SAFETY CODE.
By Steven A. Adelman
A
GET ON UP
A celebrant rouses
the crowd at a Lag
B'Omer gathering
in Meron, Israel.
In April, 45 people
died in a crowdcrush
incident at
the religious festival,
which raised
larger questions
about how crowd
managers should
account for the
expectations of
particpants at any
live event.
GETTY IMAGES
s the threat of COVID-19 has
receded in some countries, it hasn't
taken long for the old hazards to
return. In Israel, which managed
the pandemic better and distributed
vaccines earlier than most other places, the first
mass gathering of 2021, held at the end of April,
resulted in a crowd crush that killed 45 pilgrims
who had gathered to celebrate the religious holiday
of Lag B'Omer.
A survivor gave this account to the Jewish
News Syndicate: " The area became so tight that
my feet left the ground and it was difficult to
breathe. Still, I was unafraid, and everywhere
people had smiles [and were] dancing joyfully.
However, the mass of people began to move, until
we found ourselves near an exit stairwell. People
grabbed the stairwell railing, which collapsed,
pinning my leg. I was trapped while being pushed
by the unstoppable torrent of people, just waiting
for my leg to snap. By some miracle, I squeezed
out from the rail and from that crowd. Looking
back, I saw the horror: people falling on each
60 | NFPA JOURNAL * FALL 2021
having a " risk identity " and the consequences that
flow from this, it helps to lay a basic foundation
of facts regarding the night of April 30, 2021. Lag
B'Omer takes place each year on the thirty-third
day of Omer in Meron, a village in northern Israel.
Tens of thousands of people, mostly ultraOrthodox
Jews, gather for a traditional celebration
that includes bonfires, weddings, and group
singing and dancing. Americans can analogize
this to Independence Day celebrations-we know
when they take place and what activities are likely
to occur. Nonetheless, police classified the 2021
event as a " spontaneous religious event, " which
The Times of Israel drily noted is a " preposterous "
term for a gathering that involves months of planning
and is the largest annual religious gathering
in the entire country.
Just after midnight, thousands of pilgrims
gathered on temporary spectator stands for the
beginning of the Toldos Aharon Hasidic community's
bonfire-lighting ceremony. At 12:50 a.m.,
when dancing began after the lighting ceremony,
a tightly packed crowd of hundreds of people
headed toward the exit.
The Toldos Aharon section of the exit path is
a narrow passageway with a smooth and sloped
metal floor leading to stairs. There was nothing
for participants to hold onto, so people in the
increasingly dense crowd tried to hold onto each
other to keep from falling. By about 1 a.m., departing
pilgrims began to lose their footing and fell
on top of each other, crushing the victims at the
bottom.
The slippery-slope hazard of the exit path had
existed for years. Warnings had been issued by no
less than the former mayor of Meron and a journalist
who called out the exact exit that became a
deadly bottleneck in 2021.
We have seen this movie before, from the
NFPA Journal - Fall 2021

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