This particular event epitomizes the problem of masses of people confined in too small a place. Then you funnel them into a narrow passageway and disaster strikes. While this was a Jewish festival, the same type of outcome has happened for the followers of Islam, see: “The 10-Minute Mecca Stampede That Made History.” This particular death toll was in the thousands.
We in the U.S. are not immune to having similar outcomes for people being crushed to death. While we don’t have the same types of religious events, we do have big sporting competitions and music concerts that draw thousands of people. We are blessed to normally have modern facilities that take into account crowd safety.
As I recall, it has been night clubs that have had the worst tragedies here in the U.S., especially when there is a fire in a crowded space and people go to evacuate and find an escape door locked. People then pile up, crushed by those behind them, and they all perish in the fire.
While crowd safety is more the role of the fire marshal and event planners, if something does go wrong, emergency managers will be drawn into the consequence-management phase of the disaster.
