The directorate said at least 450 other pilgrims were injured in Thursday's stampede, which took place in Mina, on the outskirts of the holy city of Mecca.
Some two million people are taking part in this year's Hajj pilgrimage, which began on Tuesday.
Al Jazeera's Basma Atassi, reporting from Mina, said the incident took place in a street between pilgrim camps.
"The street is named Street 204. This stampede did not happen at the site of the 'stoning of the devil' ritual, which was happening today."....aljazeera.com
24/9/15
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At least 453 people were killed and 719 hurt in a stampede of pilgrims Thursday in one of the worst incidents in years to hit the annual hajj in Saudi Arabia, the government's civil defence service said on its Twitter account....
ReplyDeleteSaudi Arabia's civil defense service released the toll and said rescue operations by 4000 of its personnel were under way after the stampede in Mena, where almost two million pilgrims were taking part in the last major rite of the hajj.
The civil defense sevice said casualties hail from all sorts of nationalities.
It was not immediately clear what had caused the stampede............AFP
A horrific stampede killed at least 717 pilgrims and injured hundreds more Thursday on the outskirts of the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia, the deadliest tragedy to strike the annual hajj pilgrimage in more than two decades...
ReplyDeleteAt least 863 pilgrims were injured in the crush, said the Saudi civil defence directorate, which provided the death toll. The tragedy struck as Muslims around the world marked the start of the Eid al-Adha holiday.
It was the second major disaster during this year's hajj season, raising questions about the adequacy of measures put in place by Saudi authorities to ensure the safety of the roughly 2 million Muslims taking part. A crane collapse in Mecca nearly two weeks earlier left 111 people dead......AP..........ctvnews.ca