10 injured after Lag BaOmer fire explodes in Stamford Hill

3rd May 2018

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A Lag baOmer celebration in London went terribly wrong on Wednesday night.

Hundreds of people had gathered at the Biala Shul in Stamford Hill, as the Rebbe was going to light the “Medurah”.

The music began to play slowly as a small fire was being ignited on a pole – which would then be used to light the bonfire – which was soaked in oil.

As can be seen on the shocking footage below, the second the fire was lit on the pole, there was a massive explosion and large fireball.

People shrieked and panicked, and people trampled on one another.

Hatzola rushed to the scene, and treated around 30 people. Approximately 10 people were taken to the hospital, many with burns on their faces.

Social media erupted with reports that a smartphone was burned which caused the explosion.

YWN spoke with multiple eye-witnesses that confirmed that the Rebbe did in fact give a speech about the dangers of smartphones and that he would be burning one. In fact, he gave the same speech last year.

It appears that the explosion was caused by fuel and not the smartphone, although there definitely were multiple smartphones placed inside the pile to be burned.