Saudi Arabia: Over 700 People Dead And 900 Injured In One Of Mecca’s Deadliest Stampedes

A deadly stampede in Saudi Arabia’s holy city of Mecca has left more than 700 people dead and almost 550 people injured, according to latest reports emerging in the media.

Every year, millions of people congregate at Mina, a neighborhood outside the city of Mecca, to perform the Haj, a pilgrimage which is considered a religious duty for adult Muslims that must be carried out at least once in their lifetime. According to Reuters, Saudi Arabia’s civil defense authority released a statement confirming the deadly stampede took place on Street 204 of the camp city at Mina, where pilgrims stay for several days during the climax of the Haj.

The Haj pilgrimage is the largest pilgrimage of its kind in the world, and has been infamous in the past for sporadically being the scene of deadly disasters, including stampedes, tent fires and riots. According to Muslim traditions, crowds of pilgrims throw stones at three pillars during the ritual, re-enacting an event when Prophet Abraham stoned the devil and rejected his temptations.

The pilgrimage, which is conducted over a period of five days, includes meticulous rituals such as wearing a special white garment, symbolizing human equality and unity before God, and a circular procession around the Kaaba – Islam’s holiest shrine – followed by the symbolic stoning.

Back in 2006, 363 people died and over a thousand people were gravely injured in a similar Haj incident at Mecca. After that, the Saudi government built three massive pillars and completed a $1.2 billion, five-story bridge nearby the site where pilgrims could toss stones. Despite the construction creating a roomier atmosphere to accommodate the faithful, the latest disaster will come as a stern warning to Saudi officials, who will have a challenge at their hands to find even better ways to efficiently carry out the world’s largest pilgrimage.

Thursday was a particularly dangerous day in the Muslim calendar because of Eid al-Adha, a day when vast numbers of pilgrims attempt to perform rituals at the same time in a single location, according to DNA.

Saudi Arabia has been hit with two massive tragedies within a short span of time, as only two weeks ago, 107 people died in Mecca’s Grand Mosque when a crane working on an expansion project collapsed during a storm, crushing scores of pilgrims underneath.

Saudi Arabia’s Interior Ministry spokesman Brig. Gen. Mansour al-Turki said the civil defense authorities are leaving no stone unturned in their efforts to rescue the survivors and reclaiming the bodies of the dead pilgrims.

“We have a stampede accident in Mina and civil defense is dealing with it.”

CNN reports that Saudi Arabian officials have deployed thousands of workers and hundreds of ambulances and other vehicles to Mina to help with the disaster.

[Photo by Muhannad Fala’ah / Getty Images]