AT least 717 people have been trampled to death and another 805 hurt in a horrifying stampede during the hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia on Thursday, the civil defence directorate said.
Rescue operations were under way immediately after the crush in Mina on the outskirts of the holy city of Mecca, where almost two million Muslim pilgrims were taking part in the last major rite of the hajj.
Officials have described the tragedy as one of the worst in years to hit the annual hajj in Saudi Arabia. It was not immediately clear what had caused the stampede.
The head of Iran’s hajj organisation has blamed Saudi “mismanagement” for the stampede in which 21 Iranian pilgrims were killed.Saeed Ohadi told state TV by phone from Saudi Arabia that the incident might have been caused by the closure of a road. State TV says another 60 Iranian pilgrims were wounded in the incident.
Saudi Arabia’s crown prince Prince Mohammed bin Nayef ordered an investigation into the stampede.
Prince Mohammed, who chairs the Saudi hajj committee, ordered the probe during a meeting with senior officials responsible for the pilgrimage in Mina, where the stampede took place.
The findings of the investigation will be submitted to King Salman, “who will take appropriate measures” in response, the agency added.
Pilgrims had converged on Mina to throw pebbles at one of three walls representing Satan, the symbolic “stoning of the devil” that marks the last day of the event.
Panic strikes ... Medica and rescue teams give first aid to victims of the hajj stampede in Mina. Picture: Directorate of the Saudi Civil Defence/AFPSource:AFP
The deadly stampede comes less than two weeks after more than 100 were killed and hundreds more injured when fierce winds collapsed an enormous construction craneonto Mecca’s Grand Mosque, marring preparations for this year’s hajj.
Devastation ... A line of ambulances arrive with pilgrims who were injured in a stampede at an emergency hospital in Mina. Picture: AFP PHOTO/MOHAMMED AL-SHAIKHSource:AFP
The world’s 1.5 billion Muslims were on Thursday marking Eid al-Adha, the Feast of Sacrifice, the most important holiday of the Islamic calendar.
Frantic scenes ... Rescue efforts underway in Mina, on the outskirts of Mecca. Picture: Twitter/Racha93halabi.Source:Twitter
The hajj is among the Five Pillars of Islam and every capable Muslim must perform it at least once in a lifetime.
The massive ceremony representing a major security and logistical challenge for the kingdom’s authorities.
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