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More
than 300 dead after stampede at Hajj pilgrimage
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A stampede during one of
the last rituals of the Hajj season -- the annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca --
has killed more than 450 people and injured 719 others in Saudi Arabia. The stampede occurred
Thursday morning during the ritual known as "stoning the devil" in
the tent city of Mina, about 2 miles from Mecca, Islam's holiest city.
Hundreds
have been killed in past years during the same ceremony, and it comes only 13
days after a crane collapse killed more than 100 people at another major
Islamic holy site, the Grand Mosque in Mecca.
"We
have a stampede accident in Mina, and civil defense is dealing with it,"
said Brig. Gen. Mansour al-Turki, an Interior Ministry spokesman.
Civil
defense authorities said the latest death toll is 453, but the numbers have
been climbing steadily. Officials deployed 4,000 workers, along with 220
ambulances and other vehicles, to Mina to help deal with the disaster.
CNN report continues:
In
the ritual, crowds of pilgrims throw stones at three pillars in a re-enactment
of when the Prophet Abraham stoned the devil and rejected his temptations,
according to Muslim traditions.
In
Thursday's stampede, pilgrims were walking toward the largest of the pillars
when there was a sudden surge in the crowd about 9 a.m., causing a large number
of people to fall, the state-run Saudi Press Agency said, citing civil defense
officials.
Information
on what led to the surge wasn't immediately available.
A risky pilgrimage
Ethar
El-Katatney, a pilgrim who was near the stampede site about five hours after
the surge happened, said she walked past ambulances that were taking bodies of
victims. She said she saw numerous police officers and medical personnel in the
area.
"I
saw the ambulances, I saw bodies. ... At least 20, 30 ambulances passed me
by," she told CNN by phone as she tried to reach the pillars herself.
The
ceremony was the scene of stampedes and hundreds of deaths in the 1980s and
1990s as pilgrims passed a crowded bottleneck area leading to the small pillars
on the ground.
In
2006, a stampede there killed at least 363 people.
After
that, the Saudi government erected three massive pillars and completed a $1.2
billion, five-story bridge nearby where pilgrims can toss stones. It was meant
to be a roomier atmosphere and a more efficient way to accommodate the
faithful.
The ritual
The
stoning ritual is done over at least two days, where pilgrims stone the three
pillars at Mina -- believed to be where the devil was stoned when he tried to
dissuade Abraham from obeying God's orders to slaughter his son. According to
tradition, the event was a test from God, who gave Abraham a ram to slaughter instead.
On
September 11, just days before this year's Hajj started, a construction crane
crashed through the roof of another eminent Hajj destination, the Grand Mosque
in Mecca, killing 107 people. At least 238 others suffered injuries when a
powerful storm toppled the crane.
Losing
one's life during the Hajj season is considered by many devout Muslims as an
entry to heaven.
A spiritual climax
More
than 2 million Muslims from around the world are attending the annual Hajj
pilgrimage this year.
Known
as the fifth pillar of Islam, the Hajj is an obligation upon every Muslim who
has the financial means and the physical ability to perform it. For most, it is
the spiritual climax of their lives, with many saving for decades to make the
journey.
The
pilgrimage, conducted over five days, includes detailed rituals such as wearing
a special white garment that symbolizes human equality and unity before God; a
circular procession around the Kaaba, Islam's holiest shrine, surrounded by
Mecca's Grand Mosque; and the symbolic stoning.
It was also a tragic day
for Muslims in Yemen on Thursday, where at least 29 people attending Eid
prayers died when a bomb went off inside a crowded mosque in Sanaa.
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