Indians Among Those Killed in Haj Tragedy

At least 863 people were injured, the directorate said. Afghan News Agency on Twitter, become a fan on Facebook.

Over 100 Iranians are believed to have died in the stampede, along with 14 Indians, eight people from Egypt, six Pakistanis and five pilgrims from Senegal.

Iran announced that 90 of its nationals were among the victims, and accused regional rival Saudi Arabia of safety errors. The deaths are the latest case of bad press for a country whose human rights record has been on display this week after Saudi Arabia was inexplicably named to a UN Human Rights panel while simultaneously sentencing a man arrested as a minor to death by beheading and crucifixion. Iranian state television showed similar protests in several other Iranian cities.

Saudi policemen watch monitor screens showing footage from cameras set up around the holy places in the holy city of Mecca, September 21, 2015.

In a statement Iyad Madani, the secretary-general of the 57-nation OIC, hoped that “no party would seek to take advantage” of the pilgrimage to “divide rather than unite”.

Authorities in Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim country, said Friday at least three Indonesian pilgrims are dead after Thursday’s disaster.

Nasrallah said the investigation into the incident should include experts from countries that have had the most pilgrims die, citing Iran and Morocco as examples.

“We have been in contact with tour operators who took about 20,000 British pilgrims out for the hajj”.

Hajj pilgrims and Saudi emergency personnel carry a woman on a stretcher at the site where hundreds were killed in a stampede in Mina. The mood remained somber despite the hajj coinciding with Eid al-Adha, a major Islamic holiday.

“Please pilgrims do not push one another”.

Barr Abdullahi Mukhtar Muhammed, chairman of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria, said it would be apparent from an investigation that the pilgrims could not be blamed. “We wish that Allah will facilitate our pilgrimage”.

Street 204, where the stampede occurred, is one of the two main arteries leading through the camp at Mina to Jamarat, the site where pilgrims ritually stone the devil by hurling pebbles at three large pillars. Temperatures in Mina had reached 46 degrees Celsius (115 degrees Fahrenheit) yesterday. People tripped over those in wheelchairs, who also fell to the ground.

In terms of the event itself, Mr Anis said Saudis have to think about what is manageable, how they limit it and how they educate the people who are coming, adding: “Am I confident that it will be looked at and analysed properly?”

Saudi King Salman, who is overseeing his first hajj as ruler, holds the title of “custodian of the two holy mosques”, which gives the monarchy great religious clout and prestige.

Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, spoke of “improper measures” and “mismanagement” by Saudi authorities, saying they “must accept the huge responsibility for this catastrophe”.