Second man dies of wounds sustained during over-crowded funeral procession

Yitzhak Sama'at, 18, succumbs to wounds after he was seriously injured as some 100,000 people crowded the streets for the funeral procession.

By JEREMY SHARON, JPOST.COM STAFF
Funeral procession (photo credit: NEWS 24)
Funeral procession
(photo credit: NEWS 24)
A second man died on Wednesday from injuries suffered when he and dozens of others were trampled during a funeral in Bnei Brak.
Yitzhak Sama’at, 18, who was injured as some 100,000 people crowded the streets on Saturday night for the funeral procession for the renowned hassidic figure Rabbi Shmuel Halevi Wosner, died at Rabin Medical Center-Beilinson Campus in Petah Tikva on Wednesday morning.
His funeral procession took place in the haredi neighborhood of Mea She’arim in Jerusalem on Wednesday afternoon.
Funeral procession for revered Rabbi Shmuel Halevi Wosner (Shlomi Cohen, Kikar Hashabat)
Sama’at was part of the Toldot Aharon hassidic group. The Grand Rabbi of Toldot Aharon David Kahn, along with the president of the Eda Haredit communal organization Rabbi Yitzhak Tuvia Weiss, gave eulogies at the Toldot Aharon headquarters in Mea She’arim.
Mordechai Gerber, 27, from Elad, was also killed in the incident and two others remain hospitalized.
More than 100 people were treated for injuries sustained during the funeral procession, Magen David Adom said.
The crush occurred when the funeral procession descended a staircase leading to the street and was followed by many people trying to get as close as possible to the bier bearing the deceased rabbi.
The large number of people going down the stairs created a wave of pressure, causing some to fall while those behind them were unable to stop, trampling several people beneath them.
When the bier came out of the yeshiva, mourners in the funeral procession rushed toward it with a great deal of pushing and shoving that led to the incident.