More than 200 people have died and 390 injured in Saudi Arabia after a stampede of pilgrims at the desert plain of Mina, near the holy city of Mecca.
The incident took place as almost 2 million people arrived in Saudi Arabia to make the Hajj pilgrimage in honour of Eid al-Adha, the Muslim feast of sacrifice. This is one of the worst incidents in years to hit the annual Hajj in Saudi Arabia, officials said.
Saudi Arabia’s civil defence service released the toll and said rescue operations were under way. It
was not immediately clear what had caused the stampede.
Pilgrims had converged on Mina just outside Mecca on Thursday to throw pebbles at one of three walls representing Satan, the symbolic “stoning of the devil” that marks the last day of the event.
The incident took place as almost 2 million people arrived in Saudi Arabia to make the Hajj pilgrimage in honour of Eid al-Adha, the Muslim feast of sacrifice. This is one of the worst incidents in years to hit the annual Hajj in Saudi Arabia, officials said.
Saudi Arabia’s civil defence service released the toll and said rescue operations were under way. It
was not immediately clear what had caused the stampede.
Pilgrims had converged on Mina just outside Mecca on Thursday to throw pebbles at one of three walls representing Satan, the symbolic “stoning of the devil” that marks the last day of the event.
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