At least 717 people were killed, and 863 injured, in a stampede
in Mina, in Saudi Arabia, yesterday during the Islamic commemoration of
Jamarat, which is the “stoning of the devil” with pebbles. This has now brought
the death toll in Saudi Arabia to 824 as107 persons including six Nigerians
died on September 11 when a huge red crane crashed into a part of the Grand
Mosque — the largest in the world — that was filled with worshippers at the
time. The head of Saudi Arabia’s civil defense said strong winds and heavy
rains had caused the collapse. The Stoning of the Devil is a re-enactment of a
story from the Q’uran involving the Prophet Ibrahim, which takes place during
the Hajj, a few kilometers away from Mina. Some reports say total number of
casualties remained unclear as more than three million pilgrims observing this
year’s hajj, who spent the night in the plain fields of Muzdalifa, began
trooping to the Jamarat as early as 3 a.m. local time. Saudi civil defense
authorities confirmed the deaths on Twitter and said two medical centers had
been opened to treat the injured. More than 4,000 emergency workers were sent
to the scene, and hundreds of people were taken to four hospitals, the New York
Times reported.
Several Nigerian pilgrims also died in the stampede while
officials of Nigerian delegation are already taking stock of Nigerians and will
soon come out with the number and identities of those Pilgrims involved. At
press time, the more 200 rescue officials were busy attending to victims as
hospitals close to Jamrah were busy. The stampede started from tents erected
close to Jamrah. Pilgrims were not supposed to pass through the tents but they
did since there were no officials to stop them and the pandemonium led to a
massive stampede at the Jamrah exit points.” Saudi officials who are saddled
with the responsibility of controlling the movement of persons were not around
the area at the time of the incident.
The exit points to the Jamrah are four. There was an ambulance
parked close to one of the entries and again, another entry had been taken over
by disabled persons, but since there were no security officials to direct
movement, people became unruly when trying to find a way out, causing the
stampede. Lamidi Bamidele a vanguard photographer, who escaped death by the
whiskers confirmed that officials were not around the area when the incident
occurred. “I was at the centre of the stampede. Saudi police and traffic
officials who used to control movement were not available. In fact it was after
the stampede that they arrived. I managed to escape unhurt but not without
losing my pair of shoes,” he stated.
It was gathered that some Nigerians were among
those killed in the stampede. According to a source, “I saw a couple of bodies
being moved away and I know they were Nigerians but I cannot confirm the number
now. It was not difficult to know the identity of any pilgrim because each
pilgrim always wears a band which indicates where he comes from. Authorities
are still collating the number of Nigerians killed and injured in the stampede.”
Has laoreet percipitur ad. Vide interesset in mei, no his legimus verterem. Et nostrum imperdiet appellantur usu, mnesarchum referrentur id vim.
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