Thursday, 24 September 2015

Hajj 2015 Stampede: 717 Muslims Confirmed Dead With 813 Injured In Mecca, Saudi Arabia



More than 717 people have been confirmed dead and 813 Injured in the annual and lifetime pilgrimage that Muslim faithfuls must make in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.


This is the deadliest of it all since 1990 when about 1426 people were consumed by same stampede in the holy city. 

In a report by the BBC, Preparations for the Hajj were marred (September 11) when a crane collapsed at Mecca's Grand Mosque this month, killing 109 people.

During the Hajj, pilgrims travel to Mina, a large valley about 5km (3 miles) from Mecca, to throw seven stones at pillars called Jamarat, which represent the devil.
The pillars stand where Satan is believed to have tempted the Prophet Abraham.

People were going towards the direction of throwing the stones while others were coming from the opposite direction. Then it became chaotic and suddenly people started going down. There were people from Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Senegal among other nationalities. People were just climbing on top of others in order to move to a safer place and that's how some people died.

People were chanting Allah's name while others were crying, including children and infants. People fell on the ground seeking help but there was no-one to give them a helping hand. Everybody seemed to be on their own.

"I saw someone trip over someone in a wheelchair and several people tripping over him," Abdullah Lotfy, from Egypt, told Associated Press. "People were climbing over one another just to breathe."

"Dead bodies stretch as far as my eyes can see," said Bashir Sa'ad Abdullahi, the BBC's Abuja editor, who is in Mina.

The civil defence directorate said the victims were of "different nationalities", without providing details.

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