Saudi Arabia’s Grand Mufti Says Hajj Fatalities ‘Out Of Human Control’

The death toll of Indian pilgrims in last week’s horrific stampede during Haj on Sunday rose to 35 as authorities identified six more bodies.

The death toll from a stampede that occurred on Thursday outside the holy city of Mecca continues to rise, and with it so do tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia.

The interior ministry has said it assigned 100,000 police to secure the Haj and manage crowds.

Leading the criticism against Saudi Arabia, its regional rival Iran expressed indignation at the deaths of 131 of its nationals at the world’s largest annual gathering of people and suggesting Riyadh was incapable of managing the event.

According to updated figures released on Saturday by Saudi Health Minister Khalid al-Falih, 769 pilgrims were killed in the panic.

He added that Saudi officials’ closure of a road in Mina which was usually used by the pilgrims for many years was to blame for the deadly incident, saying that the move was “deliberate” and therefore safety of the pilgrims could have been ensured.

The cleric further emphasized that Islam attaches great significance to protecting people’s lives and providing security during religious rituals, calling on Muslim countries to make efforts to that effect.

She was not officially a part of the 14,000-strong Chinese delegation and had reportedly made her own way to Mecca to perform the pilgrimage without having received an official hajj permit from Saudi authorities.

Earlier on September 26, Saudi Arabia’s top religious leader Sheikh Abdul Aziz al-Sheikh said the tragic incident was beyond human control.

Attorney General Ebrahim Raeisi said: “It is not only incompetence (of their officials), but also a crime”.

Shi’ite Muslim Iran, which is locked in a series of proxy wars in Arab countries around the Sunni Muslim kingdom, says that at least 136 Iranians are among the dead, sparking protests and outrage in the Islamic Republic on Friday.

Hajj pilgrims and Saudi emergency personnel carry a woman on a stretcher at the site where hundreds were killed in a stampede in Mina.

“You are not responsible for what happened”, the grand mufti said.

Almost 1.5 lakh Indians had gone on the Haj pilgrimage to Mecca this year, which has already seen a major accident, that killed at least 107 this month.