Saudi Arabia’s head of the central
Hajj commitee, Prince Khaled al-
Faisal, has blamed the crush outside
the holy city of Mecca that killed at
least 717 people and injured 850 more
on “some pilgrims with African
nationalities”.
People from several different
countries are reported to have died in
the stampede, which took place when
two groups of pilgrims arrived at a
crossroads on Street 204 at the tent
city of Mina for a traditional stone-
throwing ritual.
Prince Khaled’s controversial remarks
on undisciplined pilgrims were
echoed by Saudi health minister
Khaled al-Falih, who was quoted by
El-Ekhbariya television as saying that
“many pilgrims move without
respecting the timetables [set by
authorities, which was the] principal
reason for this type of accident. If the
pilgrims had followed instructions,
this type of accident could have been
avoided.”
Among the casualties of the incident,
which happened on first day of the
Eid al-Adha festival (24 September),
are at least 43 Iranian nationals.
Iranian officials accused Saudi Arabia
of mismanagement and lack of safety
in the aftermath of the tragedy.
The head of Iran’s Hajj organisation,
Said Ohadi, said the incident was
caused by the authorities’ decision to
close two paths near the scene of the
symbolic ‘stoning of the devil’ ritual.
“Today’s incident shows
mismanagement and lack of serious
attention to the safety of pilgrims.
There is no other explanation. The
Saudi officials should be held
accountable,” he said on Iranian state
television according to AFP.
Iran’s deputy foreign minister Hossein
Amir Abdollahian said a Saudi
diplomatic envoy would be
summoned over the incident. “We
can in no way be indifferent to this
irresponsible behaviour of Saudi
Arabia. This will be dealt with
through diplomatic channels. Saudi
Arabian officials are responsible for
this incident and they should
immediately endeavour to take
effective measures for managing the
existing crisis and providing full
security for pilgrims.”
The stone-throwing ritual emulates
the actions of Prophet Abraham, who
is believed to have stoned the devil at
three locations when he attempted to
discourage Abraham from God’s order
to sacrifice his son Ishmael. God
eventually spares the boy and sends a
sheep to be sacrificed in his place.
Muslims gathered until dawn at the
Muzdalifah where they picked their
pebbles and put them in empty water
bottles. They had spent a day of
prayer on a vast Saudi plain and
Mount Arafat, which sits 10km from
Mina. The ritual itself takes place at a
five-storey, 1km-long structure known
as the Jamarat Bridge, near the scene
of the crush.
The structure, which cost more than
$1bn (£660m), has a capacity of
300,000 pilgrims an hour. The area
and number of entry and exit points
have been increased over the years in
an effort to improve safety. Reuters
said that an officer kept repeating
through a loudspeaker at Jamarat:
“Please pilgrims do not push one
another. Please leave from the exit
and don’t come back by the same
route”.
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