US Offers Condolences To Hajj Victims
The United States has expressed its “deepest condolences” over the hundreds of Muslim pilgrims who died in the Hajj stampede.
Our thoughts are with them and the more than two million people undertaking the Hajj this year. As Muslims around the world continue to celebrate Eid al-Adha, we join you in mourning the tragic loss of these faithful pilgrims.
— National Security Council spokesman Ned Price.
Iran’s official IRNA news agency meanwhile said 89 Iranians were among those killed and 150 were wounded, updating an earlier toll.
Saudi To Probe Stampede
Saudi Arabia’s Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Mansour al-Turki said King Salman has ordered the creation of committee to investigate the incident.
Al-Turki said high temperatures and the fatigue of the pilgrims might also have been factors in Thursday’s disaster, the deadliest event to afflict the hajj pilgrimage in more than two decades.
He says there is no indication that authorities are to blame for the event, saying “unfortunately, these incidents happen in a moment.”
Nigerian Islamic Scholar Dies in Mecca
Bishop Ikedi reports, a Professor of Islamic Studies at the University of Maiduguri, Prof. Tijjani El-Miskin died this morning in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
It is not yet clear if he died in the stampede that took place this morning.