[Source: BBC]

Dozens of people have been killed in a stampede at a religious festival in the north-east of Israel.

Israel’s national emergency service Magen David Adom (MDA) confirmed the deaths without giving exact numbers, and said dozens more had been wounded.

Newspaper Haaretz reports at least 38 people have been killed. Emergency services are evacuating the injured.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described it as a “heavy disaster”, and said he was praying for the casualties.

Videos posted online show thousands of people tightly packed together and trying to flee the chaos at the site.

Dozens of ambulances are at the scene and emergency services have laid out bodies under covers on the ground.