Horrific Mina stampede kills scores of pilgrims at Hajj

It is not yet exactly clear as to how many pilgrims were killed in the Mina stampede on September 24, 2015. Media reports vary while official reports are confusing. However, available media reports show at least 1,184 pilgrims were killed and injured hundreds more in a horrific stampede on September 24, 2015 on the outskirts of the Muslim holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia. Iran claims the death toll is more than 2,000. This is the deadliest tragedy to strike the annual Hajj pilgrimage in more than two decades. The Saudi civil defense directorate, which provided 769 death tolls said at least 863 pilgrims, was injured in the crush.
Many of the victims were crushed and trampled to death as they were on their way to perform a symbolic stoning of the cursed Satan by throwing pebbles against three stone columns in Mina. Mina is a large valley about 5 kilometers (3 miles) from Mecca that has been the site of Hajj stampedes in past years also. The area houses more than 160,000 tents where pilgrims spend the night during the Hajj. According to the Saudi civil defense directorate September 24, 2015 tragedy struck during a morning surge of pilgrims at the intersection of streets 204 and 223.  The faithful pilgrims were making their way toward a large structure overlooking the columns. The multi-story structure, known as Jamarat Bridge, is designed to ease the crowd’s pressure and prevent pilgrims from being trampled. As rescue crews rushed the injured to nearby hospitals helicopters hovered overhead and ambulance sirens blared. According to the directorate more than 220 rescue vehicles and some 4,000 members of the emergency services were deployed soon after the stampede to try to ease the congestion and provide alternative exit routes.
 Two survivors interviewed by The Associated Press (AP) said the disaster began when one wave of pilgrims found themselves heading into a mass of people going in another direction. One of the survivors, Abdullah Lotfy, 44, from Egypt said that "I saw someone trip over someone in a wheelchair and several people tripping over him. People were climbing over one another just to breathe. It was like a wave. You go forward and suddenly you go back”. Lotfy said that having two flows of pilgrims interacting in this way should never have happened. "There was no preparation. What happened was more than they were ready for," he said of the Saudi authorities. Another survivor, Ismail Hamba, 58, from Nigeria, recalled falling down and then being trampled over by marching pilgrims. "It was terrible, it was really, really terrible," he said.
It was the second major disaster during this year's Hajj season. This raises questions about the adequacy and sufficiency of measures put in place by the Saudi authorities to ensure the safety of roughly more than 2 million Muslims taking part in the pilgrimage. Less than two weeks back, a giant construction crane came crashing down on the focal point of the Hajj – the Grand Mosque in Mecca. This September 11, 2015 mishap killed 111 pilgrims including one Bangladeshi and injured more than 390 including at least 40 Bangladeshis. The Saudi authorities blamed the crane collapse on high winds during an unusually powerful storm, and faulted the construction giant Saudi Binladin Group. This Group oversees construction at the mosque, and alleged to be not following operating procedures. And on September 24, 2015 more than 1,000 fled a fire in an 11-story Mecca hotel that left two people injured.
Saudi Arabia takes great pride in its role as the custodian of Islam's holiest sites and host to millions of pilgrims every year in the Hizri Month of Zilhajj. But the Hajj poses an immense logistical and security challenge for the Saudi Kingdom. Hundreds of thousands of Muslims having differing linguistic and cultural backgrounds gather together here every year from around the world for Hajj. Many of them have saved for years for the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to perform Hajj and intent on following the same set of rituals at about the same time.
The Saudi Interior Ministry said on September 24, 2015 that the mishap appears to have been caused by two waves of pilgrims meeting at an intersection. Saudi King Salman ordered the creation of a committee to investigate the incident. The ministry's spokesman, Maj. Gen. Mansour al-Turki, said high temperatures and the fatigue of the pilgrims may also have been factors in the disaster. He also added that "unfortunately, these incidents happen in a moment" and there was no indication that authorities were to blame for the event,
Amateur video shared on social media showed a horrific scene. Scores of the bodies – the men dressed in the simple terry cloth garments worn during Hajj – lying amid crushed wheelchairs and water bottles along a sun baked street. Survivors assessed the scene from the top of roadside stalls near white tents as rescue workers in orange and yellow vests combed the area. International media covering the Hajj event, including AP journalists in Mina, were restricted from visiting the site of the accident for several hours. Photos released by the Saudi civil defense directorate on its official Twitter account showed rescue workers helping the wounded onto stretchers and loading them onto ambulances near some of the tents. Dozens of bodies could still be seen in the streets at dusk despite the presence of ambulances and freezer trucks to haul away the dead.
The death toll from September 24, 2015 stampede far exceeded that of a similar incident in 2006, near the same site. Then more than 360 pilgrims were killed in a stampede. Another stampede at Mina left 244 pilgrims dead and many hundreds injured in 2004.  The deadliest Hajj-related tragedy happened in 1990. At that time at least 1,426 pilgrims were killed in a stampede in an overcrowded pedestrian tunnel leading to holy sites in Mecca. The latest tragedy this year is certain to have touched many different countries as the victims included pilgrims of 130 different nationalities.
Sudanese pilgrim Mahmoun Mahmoud, 55, witnessed what he said appeared to be pilgrims from many different countries. According to the official IRNA news agency, at least 95 Iranian pilgrims were killed. The chief of the Iranian Hajj organising agency, Saeed Ohadi, said that "mismanagement by the Saudis" led to the tragedy. Deputy foreign minister, Hossesin Amir Abdollahian, told the official IRNA news agency that his ministry summoned the Saudi envoy to Tehran for an official protest over what he called the "inadequate performance of Saudi authorities" in the incident. By now 14 Egyptian nationals died according to initial reports and Egypt's Hajj delegation executive president, Maj. Gen. Sayed Maher, said 30 Egyptians were injured in the stampede. Out of more than 100,000 pilgrims from Bangladesh this year at least 11 pilgrims were reported killed in the stampede and left at least 98 missing as of September 26, 2015. In the Pakistani city of Lahore, Sajida Arif, said her father Haji Arif, died in the stampede. "Before leaving for the Hajj, he told me he had a wish to be buried in Mecca”, she said.
Saudi authorities take extensive precautions to ensure the safety and the security of pilgrims during the Hajj, which is an obligatory to every affordable and able-bodied Muslim. This year the pilgrimage began in earnest on September 22, 2015. To oversee crowd management and ensure pilgrims' safety during the five-day pilgrimage there were about 100,000 security forces deployed this year 2015. Specifically at Mina, Saudi authorities have put measures in place over the years to try to alleviate the pressure posed by masses of pilgrims converging on the site of the stoning ritual. Saudi officials use surveillance cameras and other necessary equipment to limit the number of people converging on the site. The Jamarat Bridge has also multiple exits to facilitate the flow of people. Yet tragedies are not uncommon.
However, more careful and cautious steps by the Saudi authority are expected and needed at Hajj time so that such incidents do not repeat in the future. Let each and everyone of the millions of pilgrims, the guests of Allah (SWT), who gatherers from different corners of the world during the Hajj season in the Holey Mecca return home safe without facing accidental death caused by stampede and the like.    

        The writer is a retired Professor of Economics, BCS General
Education Cadre  

 

Horrific Mina stampede kills scores of pilgrims at Hajj

It is not yet exactly clear as to how many pilgrims were killed in the Mina stampede on September 24, 2015. Media reports vary while official reports are confusing. However, available media reports show at least 1,184 pilgrims were killed and injured hundreds more in a horrific stampede on September 24, 2015 on the outskirts of the Muslim holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia. Iran claims the death toll is more than 2,000. This is the deadliest tragedy to strike the annual Hajj pilgrimage in more than two decades. The Saudi civil defense directorate, which provided 769 death tolls said at least 863 pilgrims, was injured in the crush. Many of the victims were crushed and trampled to death as they were on their way to perform a symbolic stoning of the cursed Satan by throwing pebbles against three stone columns in Mina. Mina is a large valley about 5 kilometers (3 miles) from Mecca that has been the site of Hajj stampedes in past years also. The area houses more than 160,000 tents where pilgrims spend the night during the Hajj. According to the Saudi civil defense directorate September 24, 2015 tragedy struck during a morning surge of pilgrims at the intersection of streets 204 and 223. The faithful pilgrims were making their way toward a large structure overlooking the columns. The multi-story structure, known as Jamarat Bridge, is designed to ease the crowds pressure and prevent pilgrims from being trampled. As rescue crews rushed the injured to nearby hospitals helicopters hovered overhead and ambulance sirens blared. According to the directorate more than 220 rescue vehicles and some 4,000 members of the emergency services were deployed soon after the stampede to try to ease the congestion and provide alternative exit routes. Two survivors interviewed by The Associated Press (AP) said the disaster began when one wave of pilgrims found themselves heading into a mass of people going in another direction. One of the survivors, Abdullah Lotfy, 44, from Egypt said that I saw someone trip over someone in a wheelchair and several people tripping over him. People were climbing over one another just to breathe. It was like a wave. You go forward and suddenly you go back. Lotfy said that having two flows of pilgrims interacting in this way should never have happened. There was no preparation. What happened was more than they were ready for, he said of the Saudi authorities. Another survivor, Ismail Hamba, 58, from Nigeria, recalled falling down and then being trampled over by marching pilgrims. It was terrible, it was really, really terrible, he said. It was the second major disaster during this years Hajj season. This raises questions about the adequacy and sufficiency of measures put in place by the Saudi authorities to ensure the safety of roughly more than 2 million Muslims taking part in the pilgrimage. Less than two weeks back, a giant construction crane came crashing down on the focal point of the Hajj the Grand Mosque in Mecca. This September 11, 2015 mishap killed 111 pilgrims including one Bangladeshi and injured more than 390 including at least 40 Bangladeshis. The Saudi authorities blamed the crane collapse on high winds during an unusually powerful storm, and faulted the construction giant Saudi Binladin Group. This Group oversees construction at the mosque, and alleged to be not following operating procedures. And on September 24, 2015 more than 1,000 fled a fire in an 11-story Mecca hotel that left two people injured. Saudi Arabia takes great pride in its role as the custodian of Islams holiest sites and host to millions of pilgrims every year in the Hizri Month of Zilhajj. But the Hajj poses an immense logistical and security challenge for the Saudi Kingdom. Hundreds of thousands of Muslims having differing linguistic and cultural backgrounds gather together here every year from around the world for Hajj. Many of them have saved for years for the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to perform Hajj and intent on following the same set of rituals at about the same time. The Saudi Interior Ministry said on September 24, 2015 that the mishap appears to have been caused by two waves of pilgrims meeting at an intersection. Saudi King Salman ordered the creation of a committee to investigate the incident. The ministrys spokesman, Maj. Gen. Mansour al-Turki, said high temperatures and the fatigue of the pilgrims may also have been factors in the disaster. He also added that unfortunately, these incidents happen in a moment and there was no indication that authorities were to blame for the event, Amateur video shared on social media showed a horrific scene. Scores of the bodies the men dressed in the simple terry cloth garments worn during Hajj lying amid crushed wheelchairs and water bottles along a sun baked street. Survivors assessed the scene from the top of roadside stalls near white tents as rescue workers in orange and yellow vests combed the area. International media covering the Hajj event, including AP journalists in Mina, were restricted from visiting the site of the accident for several hours. Photos released by the Saudi civil defense directorate on its official Twitter account showed rescue workers helping the wounded onto stretchers and loading them onto ambulances near some of the tents. Dozens of bodies could still be seen in the streets at dusk despite the presence of ambulances and freezer trucks to haul away the dead. The death toll from September 24, 2015 stampede far exceeded that of a similar incident in 2006, near the same site. Then more than 360 pilgrims were killed in a stampede. Another stampede at Mina left 244 pilgrims dead and many hundreds injured in 2004. The deadliest Hajj-related tragedy happened in 1990. At that time at least 1,426 pilgrims were killed in a stampede in an overcrowded pedestrian tunnel leading to holy sites in Mecca. The latest tragedy this year is certain to have touched many different countries as the victims included pilgrims of 130 different nationalities. Sudanese pilgrim Mahmoun Mahmoud, 55, witnessed what he said appeared to be pilgrims from many different countries. According to the official IRNA news agency, at least 95 Iranian pilgrims were killed. The chief of the Iranian Hajj organising agency, Saeed Ohadi, said that mismanagement by the Saudis led to the tragedy. Deputy foreign minister, Hossesin Amir Abdollahian, told the official IRNA news agency that his ministry summoned the Saudi envoy to Tehran for an official protest over what he called the inadequate performance of Saudi authorities in the incident. By now 14 Egyptian nationals died according to initial reports and Egypts Hajj delegation executive president, Maj. Gen. Sayed Maher, said 30 Egyptians were injured in the stampede. Out of more than 100,000 pilgrims from Bangladesh this year at least 11 pilgrims were reported killed in the stampede and left at least 98 missing as of September 26, 2015. In the Pakistani city of Lahore, Sajida Arif, said her father Haji Arif, died in the stampede. Before leaving for the Hajj, he told me he had a wish to be buried in Mecca, she said. Saudi authorities take extensive precautions to ensure the safety and the security of pilgrims during the Hajj, which is an obligatory to every affordable and able-bodied Muslim. This year the pilgrimage began in earnest on September 22, 2015. To oversee crowd management and ensure pilgrims safety during the five-day pilgrimage there were about 100,000 security forces deployed this year 2015. Specifically at Mina, Saudi authorities have put measures in place over the years to try to alleviate the pressure posed by masses of pilgrims converging on the site of the stoning ritual. Saudi officials use surveillance cameras and other necessary equipment to limit the number of people converging on the site. The Jamarat Bridge has also multiple exits to facilitate the flow of people. Yet tragedies are not uncommon. However, more careful and cautious steps by the Saudi authority are expected and needed at Hajj time so that such incidents do not repeat in the future. Let each and everyone of the millions of pilgrims, the guests of Allah (SWT), who gatherers from different corners of the world during the Hajj season in the Holey Mecca return home safe without facing accidental death caused by stampede and the like. The writer is a retired Professor of Economics, BCS General Education Cadre