RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, Sept. 24 (UPI) — At least 700 people were killed and more than 800 were injured in a stampede during the Hajj pilgrimage near the Islamic holy city of Mecca on Thursday.
The stampede took place in Mina during a ritual known as “stoning the devil,” part of the annual pilgrimage that has Muslims throw stones at a rock wall to symbolize the rejection of evil.
Saudi Arabia’s civil defense authorities said a rescue operation was underway. Teams led the other pilgrims to safer routes. More than 4,000 rescue personnel and 220 rescue vehicles, along with thousands of pilgrims, were attending to the injured.
Those injured have been transported to four nearby hospitals. The victims are of “different nationalities,” but no further details were provided by civil defense authorities.
Mina is located about three miles east of the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia. Hajj is one of the world’s largest gatherings and a celebrated event on the Islamic calendar. The stampede happened on the first day of Eid al-Adha, or the Feast of the Sacrifice. The pilgrimage attracts some 2 million Muslims to Mecca.
In 1990, about 1,400 religious pilgrims died in a similar Hajj stampede inside a tunnel that leads to holy sites. Earlier this month, preparations for the Hajj pilgrimage were marred after a crane collapse that killed 109 people.
