Hundreds dead and hurt in hajj stampede
At least 863 pilgrims were injured in the crush, said the Saudi civil defence directorate, which provided the death toll.
The tragedy struck as Muslims around the world marked the start of the Eid al-Adha holiday.
It was the second major disaster during this year’s hajj season, raising questions about the adequacy of measures put in place by Saudi authorities to ensure the safety of the roughly 2m Muslims taking part.
A crane collapse in Mecca nearly two weeks earlier left 111 people dead.
Saudi Arabia takes great pride in its role as caretaker of Islam’s holiest sites and host to millions of pilgrims annually.
However, the hajj poses an immense logistical and security challenge for the kingdom given the sheer numbers of people, from differing linguistic and cultural backgrounds, many of whom have saved for years for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Yesterday’s crush happened in Mina, a large valley about 5km from Mecca that has been the site of hajj stampedes in years past.
Mina is where pilgrims carry out a symbolic stoning of the devil by throwing pebbles against three stone columns. It also houses more than 160,000 tents where pilgrims spend the night during the pilgrimage.
Tragedy struck during a morning surge of pilgrims at the intersection of streets 204 and 223 as the faithful were making their way toward a large structure overlooking the columns, according to the Saudi civil defence directorate.
The multi-storey structure known as Jamarat Bridge is designed to ease the pressure of the crowds preventing pilgrims from being trampled.
Ambulance sirens blared as rescue crews rushed the injured to nearby hospitals.
More than 220 rescue vehicles and some 4,000 members of the emergency services were deployed soon after the stampede to try to ease the congestion and provide alternative exit routes, according to the directorate.
Amateur video shared on social media showed a horrific scene, with scores of bodies, the men dressed in the simple terry cloth garments worn during hajj, lying amid crushed wheelchairs and water bottles along a sunbaked street.
International media covering the hajj were restricted from visiting the site of the accident for several hours and from immediately leaving an Information Ministry complex where the press is housed during the final three days of the pilgrimage per government rules.
Deadly #HajjStampede claims the lives of hundreds http://t.co/cUBtbUGgzp How can this keep happening? pic.twitter.com/KMzkBFOU7C
— Jerry Doyle (@jerrydoyle) September 24, 2015
Photos released by the directorate on its official Twitter account show rescue workers helping the wounded onto stretchers and loading them into ambulances near the tents.
Some 2m people are taking part in this year’s hajj pilgrimage, which is an obligation of every able-bodied Muslim. The pilgrimage began in earnest on Tuesday.
Saudi authorities take extensive precautions to ensure the security of the hajj and the safety of pilgrims. There are about 100,000 security forces deployed this year to oversee crowd management and ensure pilgrims’ safety during the five-day pilgrimage.
At Mina specifically, authorities have put measures in place over the years to try to alleviate the pressure posed by masses of pilgrims converging on the site of the stoning ritual.
The death toll from yesterday’s crush far exceeded that of a similar incident in 2006, near the same site, when more than 360 pilgrims were killed in a stampede. Another stampede at Mina in 2004 left 244 pilgrims dead and hundreds injured.
The deadliest hajj-related tragedy happened in 1990, when at least 1,426 pilgrims perished in a stampede in an overcrowded pedestrian tunnel leading to holy sites in Mecca.
