Crowds not turned off by deaths

Waves of pilgrims today jostled or shoved their way through crowds for devil-stoning rituals, a day after 244 people were crushed to death during the same rites at the annual Muslim pilgrimage in Mina, Saudi Arabia.

Ambulances were seen whisking away a number of pilgrims overcome by the crush, but no further deaths were reported.

Most of those killed in yesterday’s tragedy on the plains of Mina outside Islam’s holy city of Mecca were Asians, mostly from Indonesia and Pakistan, the official Saudi Press Agency reported.

It was the worst tragedy in seven years at the annual Muslim Hajj pilgrimage, which is often marred by deadly fires, stampedes and riots.

Fifty-four Indonesians and 36 Pakistanis were among the dead, plus about a dozen citizens each from Turkey, Egypt, Algeria, India and Bangladesh, SPA reported.

It said other pilgrims to die in the stampede were from China, Yemen, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and several African countries.

Two of the dead were Saudis, and 53 bodies remained unidentified, SPA said.

The crowd got out of control as people moved along a wide ramp leading to the “stoning of the devil” ritual – where pilgrims throw pebbles at three stone pillars, symbolising their contempt for the devil.

Saudi authorities said that with pressure from behind, a few pilgrims fell down and panic set off a stampede.

Many Muslims who have performed the ritual have harrowing tales to tell about being swept away by the crowds, and being afraid to trip or fall for fear of being crushed to death. Pilgrims were trampled to death on their way to the stoning ritual in 1994, 1998, 2001 and last year.

“All precautions were taken to prevent such an incident, but this is God’s will,” Saudi Hajj Minister Iyad Madani said. “Caution isn’t stronger than fate.”

Brigadier Mansour al-Turki of the Saudi General Security Forces said about 10,000 security officers were on duty at the time in that area.

They intervened and contained the pushing in about 30 minutes, but already 244 people had been killed and a similar number injured, seven of them critically.

The tragedy was the worst disaster at the hajj since 1997, when 340 pilgrims died in a fire at the tent city of Mina.

About two million Muslims are participating in this year’s pilgrimage. To control the crowds, the Saudis set quotas for pilgrims from each country.

After the stoning rituals are completed, the pilgrims have to walk around the Kaaba, the black cubic structure in the centre of Mecca’s Grand Mosque, to finish the hajj.