TWO giant waves of Muslim pilgrims have collided at an intersection near a holy site in Saudi Arabia, leaving 700 people dead and hundreds injured in the worst disaster at the hajj in a quarter-century.
“People were climbing over one another just to breathe,” said Abdullah Lotfy of Egypt. “It was like a wave. You go forward and suddenly you go back.”
Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Mansour al-Turki said Saudi authorities began an investigation into Thursday’s deadly stampede.
He said two crowds coming from opposing directions converged at an intersection in Mina, on the outskirts of Mecca, when the pushing and shoving began.
“Unfortunately, these incidents happen in a moment,” al-Turki said at a news conference.
But four survivors questioned how officials managing the flow of people could allow two big crowds going in different directions to slam into each other.
“What happened was more than they were ready for,” Lotfy, 44, said.
Saudi officials said the death toll was 719, but that probably would rise, with at least 863 injured.
An AP journalist saw bodies still lying on the ground more than 10 hours after the fatal crush.
One crowd had just finished a ritual in which pilgrims throw pebbles at three stone columns representing the devil, when it ran into another wave of people heading to perform the rite.
Sudanese pilgrim Mohammed Awad, 36, and his 56-year-old father were separated when people began pushing and shoving.
Awad said he tried to get out of the crush of bodies for about 30 minutes and eventually climbed over a gate with others. It took him an hour before he could look for his father, who was under at least 10 bodies — but still alive.
“You can’t count how many bodies there were. They were stacked high,” Awad said.
Iran’s supreme leader has lashed out at Saudi Arabia, blaming “improper measures” and “mismanagement” for the deaths of at least 131 Iranians.
“The government of Saudi Arabia must accept the huge responsibility for this catastrophe,” state news agency IRNA quoted Ayatollah Ali Khamene Khamenei as saying, demanding that the causes of the accident “should not be overlooked”.
Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian said earlier that Saudi’s envoy to Tehran would be summoned to the foreign ministry over the stampede.
The head of Iran’s hajj organisation, Said Ohadi, said bad decisions had led to the tragedy.
Ohadi said that, for “unknown reasons,” two paths had been closed off near the site of a symbolic stoning of the devil where the stampede occurred.
That left only three routes to the area where the stoning ceremony was held in Mina, Ohadi said, asserting that such a step forced the crowd to form, resulting in the fatalities.
“Today’s events show mismanagement and lack of serious attention to the safety of pilgrims,” said Ohadi. “There is no other explanation. The Saudi officials should be held accountable
Amateur video on social media showed scores of bodies — many still dressed in the simple terry cloth garments worn during hajj — lying amid crushed wheelchairs and water bottles on a sunbaked street.
Helicopters circled Mina throughout the day, ferrying the injured to hospitals, while military police blocked the streets where the deaths took place.
King Salman expressed his condolences and pledged a speedy investigation.
He said he gave instructions for a review of “all existing plans and arrangements ... to improve the level of organisation and management of the movement” of the pilgrims.
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.
“The reputation of the kingdom is on the line,” said Fawaz Gerges, a Middle East expert at the London School of Economics.
“The fact is, despite everything Saudi Arabia has done, accidents and tragedies continue to happen.
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.
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.
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.
In the past the pilgrimage has been plagued by stampedes and fires, but it had been largely incident-free for nearly a decade following safety improvements.
In January 2006, 364 pilgrims died in a stampede during the stoning ritual in Mina.
A crush of pilgrims at Mina killed 244 pilgrims and injured hundreds on the final day of the hajj ceremonies in 2004.
About 180 pilgrims were trampled to death in panic after several of them fell off an overpass during the final stoning ritual at Mina in 1998.
A year earlier, 340 pilgrims were killed in a fire at the tent city of Mina as the blaze was aided by high winds. More than 1500 were injured.
Some 270 pilgrims died in a stampede in Mina in 1994.
The worst hajj-related tragedy claimed 1426 lives in a stampede in an overcrowded pedestrian tunnel in 1990.
Over the years, the Saudi government has expanded Mecca’s Grand Mosque that houses Islam’s most sacred site, the cube-shaped Kaaba.
The government also uses sophisticated face-counting technology installed at a multistory structure in Mina known as the Jamarat Bridge, near where the tragedy occurred.
The wide ramps and technology are designed to ease the pressure of the crowds and prevent pilgrims from being trampled
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