Tally shows Saudi hajj crush deadliest event to ever strike

Al Jazeera reported recently that at least 717 people had been killed in a stampede at the annual Hajj pilgrimage, Saudi Arabias civil defence directorate affirmed, as the death toll continues to rise.

Taroudant – Saudi Arabian Ministry of Heath allegedly published on Tuesday a statement on its official website saying the death toll in the recent Mina stampede has reached 4,173, but the statement has been taken down since then. Saudi Arabia claims that a total of 769 were killed.

The higher count comes from tolls offered by 17 countries through their officials or state media broadcasts. Scores of Indians and people from other nationalities are missing since the stampede at the annual Haj near the holy city of Mecca on September 24.

2004: A crush of pilgrims at Mina kills 244 people and injures hundreds on the hajj’s final day.

In a speech before the UN General Assembly on September 28, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani focused on Saudi Arabia’s mismanagement of the Hajj rituals, calling it the main reason behind the repeated bloody incidents.

Hundreds of pilgrims died in a stampede during hajj in 2006, as Saudi authorities have spent large sums of money to build Mecca’s tourist infrastructure.

Tehran has called for an independent body to take over planning and administering the five-day hajj pilgrimage, required of all able Muslims once in their lifetimes.

The incidents in Mecca have brought the Saudi Kingdom under heavy scrutiny, as several governments have accused Saudi Arabia’s authorities of neglecting safety precautions at the holy sites.

Federal Minister for Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony Sardar Muhammad Yousaf addresses a press conference in Islamabad on Thursday.

His assertion was echoed by Alhajj Abdul Kaway, a survivor who alleged that the officials closed the exit route causing the returning group of pilgrims who had accomplished the devil stoning ritual through the entrance route, colliding with the incoming pilgrims.

Religious affairs minister says they have received at least three requests from the bereaved families in this regard. Khamenei, in one of his strongest speeches yet against Saudi Arabia, warned that Iran’s “self-restraint” was coming to an end and if the Saudi authorities do not resolve the issue satisfactorily, Iran’s response will be “tough and harsh”. “This speaks a great deal about the anxiety and political sensitivity that Saudi officials feel”.