Tragedy strikes at Hajj holy site
More than 700 trampled to death, 800 injured in stampede
AT LEAST 717 pilgrims were trampled to death and another 800 injured yesterday in a stampede outside the Muslim holy city of Mecca, the worst disaster to strike the annual Hajj in 25 years and the second disaster to strike this year.
Yesterday’s crush at Mina, a few kilometres east of Mecca, was caused by two large groups of pilgrims arriving together at a crossroads on their way to performing the “stoning the devil” ritual at Jamarat, Saudi civil defence said. Ministry spokesman Major General Mansour al-Turki said high temperatures and the fatigue of the pilgrims might also have been factors.
About 2 million people take part in the Hajj, which all able-bodied Muslims are required to undertake at least once in their lives.
Authorities said King Salman had ordered the creation of a committee to investigate the incident, the worst since July 1990 when 1 426 pilgrims were crushed to death in a tunnel near Mecca. Both stampedes occurred on Eid-ul-Adha (Feast of the Sacrifice), Islam’s most important feast and the day of the stoning ritual.
It is also barely two weeks since 110 people died in Mecca’s Grand Mosque when a crane working on an expansion project collapsed during a storm and toppled off the roof into the main courtyard, crushing pilgrims underneath.
The Muslim Judicial Council and the Gift of the Givers said last night that so far there had been no indication that South Africans were among those killed and injured. About 2 000 South Africans were taking part in the pilgrimage, said Moulana Ihsaan Hendricks, president of the MJC.
The Presidency extended its condolences to those who had lost loved ones.
“Acting President Cyril Ramaphosa has, on behalf of President Jacob Zuma and the government and people of South Africa, extended heartfelt condolences to the families and nations of the nearly 800 Hajj
pilgrims who have died in a stampede near the holy city of Mecca, in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” said spokesman Clayson Monyela.
“Acting President Ramaphosa said that for South Africans, the stampede was particularly tragic given its coincidence with Heritage Day, an occasion dedicated to celebrating the diversity of the nation and humanity at large.”
Hendricks said: “While we are celebrating Eid, our hearts and our emotions are deeply with the pilgrims, not just the South Africans but all pilgrims. This stampede comes as a shock to our community.”
Gift of the Givers founder Imtiaz Sooliman said he had spoken to a South African friend who was taking part in the Hajj pilgrimage. “He missed the stampede by about five minutes. He is with a group of about 50 South Africans. But we have not heard of any South Africans among the dead or injured.”
An unverified video posted on Twitter showed bodies, clad in the white towelling of those undertaking Hajj, lying on the ground by the side of the road, surrounded by debris, as pilgrims and rescue workers attempted to revive them.
Street 204, where the stampede occurred, is one of the two main arteries leading through the camp at Mina to Jamarat.
Reporters in another part of Mina said they could hear police and ambulance sirens, but that roads leading to the site of the disaster had been blocked.
“Work is under way to separate large groups of people and direct pilgrims to alternative routes,” the Saudi Civil Defence said on its Twitter account.
It said more than 220 ambulances and 4 000 rescue workers had been sent to the stampede’s location to help the injured.
Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya television channel showed a convoy of ambulances driving through the Mina camp. Some of the wounded were evacuated by helicopters.
An Arab pilgrim, who did not want to give his name, said he had hoped to perform the stoning ritual later yesterday afternoon but was now too frightened to risk doing so.
“I am very tired already and after this I can’t go.
“I will wait for the night and if it is not resolved, I will see if maybe somebody else can do it on my behalf,” he said. – Agencies