Hajj Stampede: 717 People Die In Mecca Crush

At least 717 people have died and hundreds more are injured after a stampede on the edge of Mecca, Saudi authorities say.

Civil defence officials said more than 800 were also injured in the crush at Mina, on the outskirts of the Muslim holy city, where some two million people are at the annual pilgrimage.

Some 4,000 rescue workers and 220 ambulances are involved in the emergency operation, officials said.

Pictures on social media showed a devastating scene, with dozens of bodies lying among water bottles and crushed wheelchairs.

Mina is where pilgrims go to carry out a symbolic stoning of the devil by throwing pebbles against stone walls.

A statement from the Saudi Embassy in London said: "Saudi Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Mansour al-Turki told reporters that the initial investigations of the incident indicated that two pathways, one of which is Street 204, converged at the same time.

"The majority of Thursday's victims descended onto a pathway toward Jamarat during a time that was not allocated to them."

The embassy said it was still unclear if any British nationals were among the deceased or injured.

The deaths come on the first day of Eid, traditionally the most hazardous day of the Hajj because so many people are trying to perform rituals at the same time.

http://news.sky.com/story/1558034/hajj-stampede-717-people-die-in-mecca-crush

Absolutely awful

them Muslim know how to throw a party

lots of moslems dying lately in Mecca

Hajj crush: Saudi Arabia issues over 1,000 images suggesting death-toll rise

Saudi Arabia has given foreign diplomats over 1,000 photographs of the dead from last week’s hajj crush and stampede, Indian and Pakistani authorities said, in an indication of a significantly higher death toll than previously offered by the kingdom.

Saudi officials could not be immediately reached for comment about the discrepancy surrounding the death toll of the disaster in Mina.

Tariq Fazal Chaudhry, an MP from Pakistan’s governing PML-N political party who is leading his country’s response to the disaster, said Saudi officials gave diplomats “1,100 photos” of the dead. Chaudhry told journalists during a news conference broadcast nationwide on Monday night that the photos could be viewed at Saudi embassies and missions abroad.

“This is the official figure of martyrs from Saudi officials given for the identification process,” Chaudhry said.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/28/saudi-arabia-1100-photographs-suggest-rise-hajj-death-toll

............and the death toll increases