‘Wonderful and compassionate’ Brit, 24, killed in stampede at Jewish festival

Tributes have been paid to a British man from Manchester killed in the Israel crush horror.

Moshe Bergman, 24, was among 45 victims killed after a stampede at a Jewish festival on Friday.

He was buried at a funeral in Jerusalem early on Sunday morning, the Manchester Evening News reports.

More than 150 people were also injured at the Lag B’Omer festival, near Mount Meron in northern Israel.

It is the deadliest civil disaster in Israel’s history.

Mr Bergman had been studying in the country, where he lived with his wife Shira, originally from Prestwich.

The tragedy unfolded after people became trapped in a crowded passageway at the site.

His grieving family has travelled from their home in Kersal to the Israeli capital to sit Shiva with his wife, who he married 18 months ago.

Family friend Rabbi Arnold Saunders said: “The family have been overwhelmed by the support they have received from family and friends and the authorities.

“They have accepted that this was a tragic accident and as people of faith accept the will of God. They don’t want to engage in a blame game.

“They want the facts to be investigated to ensure nothing like this ever happens again but there is no bitterness. I was very inspired by their reaction.”

Mr Bergman was training to be a Rabbi in Jerusalem, where he had lived for the last two-and-a-half years.

Rabbi Saunders continued: “He was a very quiet studious young man.

“A dedicated husband for the last 18 months, a wonderful son, brother and a caring and compassionate young man.

“He was a very considered and quiet young man and he will be very very sadly missed.

“He was the sort of person nobody would have a bad word to say about.”

He added: “He got on with everyone and you could rely on him for anything. He would do anything for anyone.

“His death is a terrible tragedy.

“The fact the family spent hours not knowing what had happened to him was terrible.

“He was one of the last to be identified. The wait for the family was most agonising.”

He said that in the “fog of such a terrible event” they heard different rumours.

The rabbi said: “I can only imagine what they must have been going through.”

Nearly 100,000 ultra-Orthodox Jews attended the festival on Friday, at one of the holiest sites in Israel.

They had gathered at the tomb of the second-century sage Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai for annual commemorations.

Videos from social media showed thousands of people tightly trapped and climbing though torn gaps in metal barriers as the tragedy unfolded.