Hajj tragedy: 310 crushed to death

Thursday, September 24, 2015 11:11 am

Saudi medics attending to the injured

The death toll from a crush of pilgrims on Thursday during the annual Muslim Haj in Saudi Arabia has risen to 310, the Saudi civil defence said. The death toll was earlier said to be 220.

The Saudi agency said that 450 other people had been injured in the crush caused by large numbers of people pushing at Mina, outside the Muslim holy city of Mecca.

The sea of pilgrims in Mina

Pilgrims in Mina

At least two million people from all over the Islamic world are performing the Hajj this year.

Some past deadly hajj-related tragedies:

1) 11 September 2015: At least 111 people are killed and scores wounded when a crane collapses in bad weather, crashing onto the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Islam’s holiest site.

2) 2006: More than 360 pilgrims are killed in a stampede at the desert plain of Mina, near Mecca, where pilgrims carry out a symbolic stoning of the devil by throwing pebbles against three stone walls. The day before the hajj began, an eight-story building being used as a hostel near the Grand Mosque in Mecca collapsed, killing at least 73 people.

3) 2004: A crush of pilgrims at Mina kills 244 pilgrims and injures hundreds on the final day of the hajj ceremonies.

4) 2001: A stampede at Mina during the final day of the pilgrimage ceremonies kills 35 hajj pilgrims.

5) 1998: About 180 pilgrims are trampled to death in panic after several of them fell off an overpass during the final stoning ritual at Mina.

6) 1997: At least 340 pilgrims are killed in a fire at the tent city of Mina as the blaze was aided by high winds. More than 1,500 were injured.

7) 1994: Some 270 pilgrims are killed in a stampede during the stoning ritual at Mina.

8) 1990: The worst hajj-related tragedy claims the lives of 1,426 pilgrims in a stampede in an overcrowded pedestrian tunnel leading to holy sites in Mecca.

*Incidents chronicled by Times of India