At least 717 pilgrims were killed today in a stampede outside the Muslim holy city of Makkah, Saudi authorities said, the worst disaster to strike the annual haj pilgrimage in 25 years.
At least 863 others were injured in the crush at Mina, a few kilometres east of Makkah, caused by two large groups of pilgrims arriving together at a crossroads on their way to performing the "stoning the devil" ritual at Jamarat, Saudi civil defence said.
Today's disaster was the worst to befall the pilgrimage since July 1990, when 1,426 pilgrims were crushed to death in a tunnel near Makkah. Both stampedes occurred on Aidiladha (Feast of the Sacrifice), Islam's most important feast and the day of the stoning ritual.
Photographs published on the Twitter feed of the Saudi civil defence showed pilgrims lying on stretchers while emergency workers in high-visibility jackets lifted them into an ambulance.
The haj, the world's largest annual gathering of people, has been the scene of numerous deadly stampedes, fires and riots in the past, but their frequency was greatly reduced in recent years as the government spent billions of dollars upgrading and expanding haj infrastructure and crowd control technology.
Safety during haj is a politically sensitive issue for the kingdom's ruling Al Saud dynasty, which presents itself internationally as the guardian of orthodox Islam and custodian of its holiest places in Makkah and Madinah.
Unverified video posted on Twitter showed bodies, clad in the white towelling of those undertaking haj, lying on the ground by the side of the road, surrounded by debris, as pilgrims and rescue workers attempted to revive them.
Street 204, where the stampede occurred, is one of the two main arteries leading through the camp at Mina to Jamarat, the site where pilgrims ritually stone the devil by hurling pebbles at three large pillars.
In 2006, at least 346 pilgrims died in a stampede at Jamarat.
Reuters reporters in another part of Mina said they could hear police and ambulance sirens, but that roads leading to the site of the disaster had been blocked.
"Work is under way to separate large groups of people and direct pilgrims to alternative routes," the Saudi civil defence said on its Twitter account.
Convoy of ambulances
Saudi civil defence said more than 220 ambulances and 4,000 rescue workers had been sent to the stampede's location to help the injured.
Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya television channel showed a convoy of ambulances driving through the Mina camp. Some of the wounded were evacuated by helicopters.
An Arab pilgrim who did not want to give his name said he had hoped to perform the stoning ritual later in the afternoon but was now too frightened to risk doing so.
"I am very tired already and after this I can't go. I will wait for the night and if it not resolved, I will see if maybe somebody else can do it on my behalf," he said.
Efforts to improve safety at Jamarat have included enlarging the three pillars and constructing a three-decker bridge around them to increase the area and number of entry and exit points for pilgrims to perform the ritual.
More than 100,000 police and thousands of video cameras are also deployed to allow groups to be dispersed before they reach dangerous levels of density.
"Please pilgrims do not push one another. Please leave from the exit and don't come back by the same route," an officer kept repeating through a loudspeaker at Jamarat.
Two weeks ago 110 people died in Makkah's Grand Mosque when a crane working on an expansion project collapsed during a storm and toppled off the roof into the main courtyard, crushing pilgrims underneath.
- Reuters
Previous disasters at annual Muslim haj pilgrimage
December 1975 - A cooking gas cylinder explodes in the pilgrim tent city, causing a fire that kills over 200 pilgrims.
July 1987 - Iranian protesters clash with Saudi police, leading to the death of more than 400 Iranian pilgrims.
July 1990 - Inside the al-Muaissem tunnel near Makkah in Saudi Arabia, 1,426 pilgrims are crushed to death. The accident occurs on Eid al-Adha (The Feast of Sacrifice), Islam's most important feast at the end of the haj and the day of the "stoning of the devil" ritual.
May 1994 - A stampede near Jamarat Bridge in Mina, near Makkah, kills 270 in the area where pilgrims ritually stone the devil.
April 1997 - 343 pilgrims are killed in a tent fire at the haj camp at Mina, prompting the government to construct a permanent, fireproof tent city there.
April 1998 - One hundred and nineteen Muslim pilgrims are crushed to death in Saudi Arabia at the Haj.
February 2004 - A stampede kills 251 Muslim pilgrims in Saudi Arabia near the Jamarat Bridge during the stoning of the devil.
January 2006 - Some 362 Muslim pilgrims are crushed to death at the eastern entrance of the Jamarat Bridge during the stoning ritual.
September 2015 - A crane crashes into the Grand Mosque days before haj begins, crushing 111 people to death.
