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Dozens reported killed in Hajj stampede
(AP)
Updated: 2006-01-12 21:24
Muslim pilgrims rushing to complete a symbolic stoning
ritual on the last day of the hajj tripped over luggage Thursday, and an unknown
number of people were killed in the ensuing stampede, the Interior Ministry
said. State-run television said dozens died or were injured.
After having thrown their last 21 stones
toward a pillar representing the devil, Muslim pilgrims prepare themselves
to leave the Saudi Arabian city of Mina into Mecca, Islam's holiest shrine
during the hajj, Thursday, Jan. 12, 2006. [AP] |
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.
The ritual has seen deadly stampedes in the past, including one in 1990 that
killed 1,426 people and another in February 2004 that killed 244.
A ministry spokesman, Maj. Gen. Mansour al-Turki, said the stampede happened
as pilgrims were rushing to complete the last of three days of the stoning
ritual before sunset. Some pieces of luggage spilled from moving buses at one
entrance to al-Jamarat, causing pilgrims to trip and pile up, al-Turki said.
Al-Turki said there were deaths, but he could not give an exact number.
State-run Saudi television Al-Ekhbariyah cited police officials as saying dozens
were killed and injured.
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 pillars are located on a large pedestrian bridge, the width of an
eight-lane highway over the desert plain of Mina outside the holy city of Mecca.
A number of ramps lead up the bridge to give pilgrims access to the site, and
the stampede occurred at the base of one ramp.
The stampede took place despite Saudi efforts to improve traffic for the
massive crowds of pilgrims at the site, where all 2.5 million pilgrims
participating in the annual hajj move from pillar to pillar to throw their
stones, then exit.
Saudi authorities recently widened the bridge and built extra ramps and
increased the time pilgrims can carry out the rite — traditionally done between
sunrise and sunset.
The stoning ritual is one of the last events of the hajj 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 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.
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