SAUDI Arabia’s heath minister said yesterday a crush that killed more than 700 people at the hajj pilgrimage may have been caused by pilgrims failing to follow instructions from authorities shepherding the world’s largest annual gathering of people.
In a statement posted on the ministry’s website, the minister, Khalid al-Falih, said an investigation would be conducted rapidly into the worst disaster to strike the annual hajj pilgrimage for 25 years. At least 863 others were injured.
“The investigations into the incident of the stampede that took place today in Mina, which was perhaps because some pilgrims moved without following instructions by the relevant authorities, will be fast and will be announced as has happened in other incidents,” the statement said.
Falih said the injured were being transferred to hospitals in Mecca and if necessary in other parts of the country.
Saudi King Salman said he had ordered a review of hajj plans after the disaster, in which two large groups of pilgrims arrived together at a crossroads in Mina, a few kilometres east of Mecca, on their way to performing the “stoning of the devil” ritual at Jamarat.
Acting President Cyril Ramaphosa extended South Africas’s condolences to families of the victims and said the government was awaiting information about the country’s pilgrims.
At least 717 pilgrims from around the world were killed on Thursday in the crush.
The disaster was the worst to occur at the pilgrimage since July 1990, when 1426 pilgrims suffocated in a tunnel near Mecca.
Both incidents occurred on Eid al-Adha (Feast of the Sacrifice), Islam’s most important feast and the day of the stoning ritual.
Photographs published on the Twitter feed of Saudi civil defence on Thursday, showed pilgrims lying on stretchers while emergency workers in high-visibility jackets lifted them into an ambulance.
Other images showed bodies of men in white hajj garments piled on top of each other. Unverified video posted on Twitter showed pilgrims and rescue workers trying to revive some victims.
Safety during hajj is a politically sensitive issue for the kingdom’s ruling Al Saud dynasty, which presents itself internationally as the guardian of orthodox Islam and custodian of its holiest places in Mecca and Medina.
Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said the Saudi government should accept responsibility for the crush, in which more than 100 Iranian nationals were reported to have died.
“Mismanagement and improper actions have caused this catastrophe,” he said.
The Interior Ministry spokesman, Mansour Turki, said the investigation would look into what caused an unusual mass of pilgrims to congregate at the location of the disaster.
Speaking in New York, Pope Francis expressed “my sentiments of closeness” with the world’s Muslims after the tragedy.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and the US offered condolences.
Probe into fatal hajj stampede
In a statement posted on the ministry’s website, the minister, Khalid al-Falih, said an investigation would be conducted rapidly into the worst disaster to strike the annual hajj pilgrimage for 25 years. At least 863 others were injured.
“The investigations into the incident of the stampede that took place today in Mina, which was perhaps because some pilgrims moved without following instructions by the relevant authorities, will be fast and will be announced as has happened in other incidents,” the statement said.
Falih said the injured were being transferred to hospitals in Mecca and if necessary in other parts of the country.
Saudi King Salman said he had ordered a review of hajj plans after the disaster, in which two large groups of pilgrims arrived together at a crossroads in Mina, a few kilometres east of Mecca, on their way to performing the “stoning of the devil” ritual at Jamarat.
Acting President Cyril Ramaphosa extended South Africas’s condolences to families of the victims and said the government was awaiting information about the country’s pilgrims.
At least 717 pilgrims from around the world were killed on Thursday in the crush.
The disaster was the worst to occur at the pilgrimage since July 1990, when 1426 pilgrims suffocated in a tunnel near Mecca.
Both incidents occurred on Eid al-Adha (Feast of the Sacrifice), Islam’s most important feast and the day of the stoning ritual.
Photographs published on the Twitter feed of Saudi civil defence on Thursday, showed pilgrims lying on stretchers while emergency workers in high-visibility jackets lifted them into an ambulance.
Other images showed bodies of men in white hajj garments piled on top of each other. Unverified video posted on Twitter showed pilgrims and rescue workers trying to revive some victims.
Safety during hajj is a politically sensitive issue for the kingdom’s ruling Al Saud dynasty, which presents itself internationally as the guardian of orthodox Islam and custodian of its holiest places in Mecca and Medina.
Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said the Saudi government should accept responsibility for the crush, in which more than 100 Iranian nationals were reported to have died.
“Mismanagement and improper actions have caused this catastrophe,” he said.
The Interior Ministry spokesman, Mansour Turki, said the investigation would look into what caused an unusual mass of pilgrims to congregate at the location of the disaster.
Speaking in New York, Pope Francis expressed “my sentiments of closeness” with the world’s Muslims after the tragedy.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and the US offered condolences.
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