S.Arabia To Upgrade Holy Sites After Stampede Incident
MINA, Saudi Arabia, February 2 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) -
Saudi Arabia has set up Monday, February 2, a high-profile ad hoc
committee following the tragic death of 244 pilgrims in a stampede
during the hajj ritual of stoning the three concrete pillars
representing the Satan on Sunday, February 1.
At a royal decree from Saudi King Fahd Bin Abdal Aziz, the committee
will draw up a comprehensive plan to develop the holy places,
chiefly Mina, some seven kilometers from Makkah, the Saudi news
agency (WAS) reported.
It will be headed by Minister Of Municipal and Rural Affairs Mut'ab
bin Abdal Aziz, the governor of Makkah, Prince Abdul Majid bin Abdal
Aziz and Hajj Minister Iyad bin Amin Madani.
Deadly Stampede
A total of 244 Muslim pilgrims were trampled to death and a similar
number injured during the Stoning of Satan ritual, which closes the
rituals for the nearly two million Muslim pilgrims who flocked to
Mina, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The dead included 54 Indonesians, 36 Pakistanis, 13 Egyptians, 11
Turks, 11 Indians, 10 Algerians, 10 Bangladeshis, eight Sudanese,
seven Moroccans, five Chinese, four Yemenis, three Sri Lankans, two
Afghans, two Somalis, two Syrians, two Saudis, one Burmese, one
Omani, one Tunisian, one Nigerian, one Chadian and one Cameroonian.
Another 58 people who died had not been identified, according to the
list carried by the official Saudi press agency (WAS), although
three were said to be from southeast Asia.
The huge crush started around 9:00 am (0600 GMT) as large numbers of
white-robed pilgrims surged toward the Jamarat Bridge to lob stones
at the pillars representing the devil. The incident lasted for 27
minutes.
"We believe that most of the dead are from among illegal pilgrims,"
Madani said, referring to those who arrived earlier in the year to
perform the Umrah (minor pilgrimage) and stayed illegally, as well
as local residents who never registered for the hajj.
He said 2,000 national guard members were moved to the area
following the stampede to reinforce 10,000 police already on site,
while helicopters also hovered overhead.
Despite the stampede, the ritual continued for two and a half hours.
"What happened this morning did not stop the accomplishing of the
hajj rituals. The pilgrims continued to rush in," Waleed Faydullah,
a 32-year-old Egyptian, told AFP.
The incident occurred despite that the time for throwing Jamrat Al-
`Aqabah on the day of `Eid, for those who are able to do it, is from
sunrise, and for those who are weak and unable to cope with the
crowding from the end of the night.
Yelling "Allahu Akbar", pilgrims hurl seven small stones from behind
a fence or from an overhead bridge every day for three days at each
of the three 18-metre (58-foot) high concrete pillars that symbolize
Satan.
The pillars stand only 155 meters (yards) apart and were mobbed as
the pilgrims tried to get close despite beefed-up security measures.
Satan appeared on the same site to the Prophet Abraham, son Ismael
and wife Hagar, who each threw seven stones at the devil.
The first two days of the pilgrimage passed without incident under
tight security -- although authorities said they arrested in Riyadh
on Thursday, January 29, seven suspected members of a "terror group"
planning an attack.
There have been many deadly stampedes in the past. Last year, 14
pilgrims, including six women, were killed in a stampede during the
first day of the stoning ritual and 35 in 2001, while the 1998 hajj
saw 118 killed and more than 180 hurt at Mina.
The worst toll of the pilgrimage was in July 1990, when 1,426
pilgrims were trampled or asphyxiated to death in a stampede in a
tunnel, also in Mina.
An Egyptian scholar put forward last month a couple of creative
ideas to alleviate the too much crowding in hajj season, suggesting
to make some of the rituals automated
The hajj, one of the five pillars of Islam along with faith, prayer,
charity and the annual Ramadan fast, climaxed on Saturday on the
nearby plain of Arafat where pilgrims prayed for forgiveness, after
which they spent the night in the town of Muzdalifa.
The pilgrims had spent Friday, January 30, in prayer and meditation
in Mina, some seven kilometers (4.5 miles) away from Makkah.
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