Bodies pile up after stampede
2006-01-12 21:03
Mina - Thousands of Muslim pilgrims rushing to complete a symbolic stoning ritual during the haj tripped over baggage on Thursday, causing a crush in which at least 345 people were killed and hundreds injured, despite Saudi attempts to prevent stampedes that have plagued the annual event.
The stampede occurred as tens of thousands of pilgrims headed toward al-Jamarat, a series of three pillars representing the devil that the faithful pelt with stones to purge themselves of sin.
Footage from the scene showed lines of bodies laid out on stretchers on the pavement and covered with sheets.
Ahmed Mustafa, an Egyptian pilgrim, said he saw bodies taken away in refrigerator trucks.
"There must be dozens of people dead," he said.
An Egyptian pilgrim, Suad Abu Hamada, heard screaming and "saw people jumping over each other".
"The bodies were piled up. I couldn't count them, they were too many," she said.
The stampede happened as pilgrims were rushing to complete the last of three days of the stoning ritual before sunset, interior ministry spokesperson Mansour al-Turki, said.
Some of the pilgrims began to trip over dropped luggage, causing a large pileup, he said.
Many pilgrims carry their personal belongings - such as tents, clothes or bags of food - with them as they move between the various stages of the haj.
Most from South Asia
State-run Saudi television Al-Ekhbariyah reported that most of the victims were from South Asia.
The health ministry said 289 people were injured.
Mina General Hospital, a small facility several hundred metres from the site, was filled with injured, and some victims were sent to hospitals in Mecca and Riyadh, said Ismail Abdul-Zaher, a doctor at the hospital.
Ambulances and police cars streamed into the area, and security forces tried to move pilgrims away from part of the site, though thousands continued with the ritual.
The stampede took place despite Saudi efforts to improve traffic at the site, where all 2.5 million pilgrims participating in the annual haj move from pillar to pillar to throw their stones, then exit.
Saudi authorities replaced the small round pillars with short walls to allow more people to throw their stones without jostling for position.
Troops
About 60 000 Saudi troops have been patrolling the Mina plain since the stoning ritual began on Tuesday, intended to ensure a smooth flow of pilgrims.
Helicopters fly overhead, and authorities monitor the pilgrims from a control room through closed-circuit television.
But often the police appeared overwhelmed, unable to manage the crowds - a task complicated by peddlers selling food and souvenirs to the pilgrims and jamming up traffic.
Signs giving directions to pilgrims - many of whom are at the site for the first time - are few.
The stoning ritual is one of the last events of the haj pilgrimage to Islam's holiest sites, which able-bodied Muslims with the financial means are required by their faith to do at least once.
Many pilgrims had already finished the stoning ritual on Thursday and had gone back to Mecca to carry out a farewell circuit around the Kaaba, the black stone cube that Muslims face when they do their daily prayers.
- AP