Language barrier and ill-discipline blamed for deadly stampede
Hajj numbers won’t dip
THE language barrier and people not following instructions were likely responsible for the deadly stampede at one of the last rituals of the Hajj, the annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, last week.
The deaths of more than 700 pilgrims in Mina came two weeks after a crane collapse at Mecca’s Grand Mosque killed 107 worshippers and injured 238.
There were no South African casualties in either incident.
While the crane tragedy was seen as an accident, the stampede, as thousands of pilgrims were returning from the pelting of the Jamarat on September 24, could have been avoided, according to two South Africans familiar with the setup there.
Tour guide Amir Hamza Mookadam, 26, who was pelting with the 90-strong South African tour group at the time of the tragedy, said the fact that many people did not speak Arabic, or follow instructions, could have been a factor.
“According to information the Iranian (pilgrims) were travelling in the wrong direction. If a single person goes in the wrong direction, it can be catastrophic. Imagine thousands of people going in the wrong direction.”
Mookadam, who has made more than 13 trips to holy sites, said his group had used an alternative route and when they heard about the incident found it “almost unbelievable”.
“It is definitely not the fault of the government. There are demarcated roads and routes and there are many routes. The problem is the language barrier and people not following instructions.”
He added that on the day of the tragedy the temperature had risen to 51ºC and people were tired.
“People will always come for Hajj,” he said. “It’s their Islamic right and compulsory for each and every Muslim. I do not think it will affect Hajj next year.”
Moulana Abdullah Khan of the Jamiat Ulama told POST earlier this week that people did not always follow instructions while on Hajj.
Crowds
“The Hajj ministry deals with huge crowds and this increases annually. They have allocated different times to different countries. When people violate and do their own thing, these circumstances prevail,” he said.
“From the information received by our offices, a crowd of people went in the wrong direction. For example, if police are stopping a group or giving them instructions and they do not understand, then they end up having a boxing match because they cannot understand the language or procedure. In their mind all they think about is arriving at the Jamarat.”
Khan said this event was the main pilgrimage, taking place from September 22-26.
The act of pelting the Jamarat was symbolic because the prophet Abraham was challenged by Satan, he explained.
He said many people were ignorant and thought that the Jamarat was the devil.
“It is only symbolic of the act. It is also to show pilgrims that whatever challenges they face can be overcome.”
He said that he did not think that the numbers of pilgrims would decrease.
“I want to commend the Saudi government, who have made great progress in developing infrastructure to manage huge crowds. In the last 10 years they have increased the number of roads and an incident of this magnitude has not taken place.”
He said in 1996 a fire caused the death of 1 700 pilgrims.