Fourteen Indians have died in a horrific stampede that killed at least 717 pilgrims and injured hundreds more on Thursday on the outskirts of the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia. This is the deadliest tragedy to strike the annual pilgrimage in more than two decades.
At least 863 pilgrims were injured in the crush, said the Saudi civil defense directorate, which provided the death toll. Of those injured, 13 are Indians and are in hospital. The tragedy struck as Muslims around the world marked the start of the Eid al-Adha holiday.
It was the second major disaster during this year’s Hajj season, raising questions about the adequacy of measures put in place by Saudi authorities to ensure the safety of the roughly 2 million Muslims taking part in the pilgrimage. A crane collapse in Mecca nearly two weeks ago left 111 people dead.
Many of the victims were crushed and trampled to death as they were on their way to perform a symbolic stoning of the devil by throwing pebbles against three stone columns in Mina, a large valley about 5 kilometers (3 miles) from Mecca that has been the site of Hajj stampedes in previous years.
The incident took place on Street 204 of the camp city at Mina, a few kilometres east of Mecca, where pilgrims stay for several days during at the end of the Hajj.
The disaster began when one wave of pilgrims found themselves heading into a mass of people going in another direction.
I saw someone trip over someone in a wheelchair and several people tripping over him. People were climbing over one another just to breathe. It was like a wave. You go forward and suddenly you go back.”
— Abdullah Lotfy, Egypt
Lotfy said that having two flows of pilgrims interacting in this way should never have happened. “There was no preparation. What happened was more than they were ready for,” he said.
Later Thursday, King Salman expressed his condolences over the tragic crush and pledged a speedy investigation. He said he has asked for a review of “all existing plans and arrangements ... to improve the level of organisation and management of the movement” of pilgrims at the Hajj.
Saudi Arabia takes great pride in its role as the caretaker of Islam’s holiest sites and host to millions of pilgrims annually. But the hajj poses an immense logistical and security challenge for the kingdom, given the sheer number of hundreds of thousands of people – from differing linguistic and cultural backgrounds.
The kingdom’s Interior Ministry said that the crush appears to have been caused by two waves of pilgrims meeting at an intersection.
The ministry’s spokesman, Maj. Gen. Mansour al-Turki, said high temperatures and the fatigue of the pilgrims may also have been factors in the disaster. He said there was no indication that authorities were to blame for the event, adding that “unfortunately, these incidents happen in a moment.”
Another survivor, Ismail Hamba, 58, from Nigeria, recalled falling down and then being trampled over by marching pilgrims. “It was really terrible,” he said.
Thursday’s tragedy struck during a morning surge of pilgrims at the intersection of streets 204 and 223 as the faithful were making their way toward a large structure overlooking the columns, according to the civil defense directorate.
The multi-story structure, known as Jamarat Bridge, is designed to ease the pressure of the crowds and prevent pilgrims from being trampled.
Ambulance sirens blared and helicopters hovered overhead as rescue crews rushed the injured to nearby hospitals. More than 220 rescue vehicles and some 4,000 members of the emergency services were deployed soon after the stampede to try to ease the congestion and provide alternative exit routes, according to the directorate.
Survivors assessed the scene from the top of roadside stalls near white tents as rescue workers in orange and yellow vests combed the area.
Journalists were restricted from visiting the site of the accident for several hours and from immediately leaving an Information Ministry complex where the press is housed during the final three days of the pilgrimage, as per government rules.
Photos released by the directorate on its official Twitter account showed rescue workers helping the wounded onto stretchers and loading them onto ambulances near some of the tents.
Dozens of bodies could still be seen in the streets at dusk despite the presence of ambulances and refrigerator trucks to haul away the dead.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his condolences for the families of those killed.
(With agency inputs)
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