Number of Indians among the dead rises to 14 even as an inquiry is launched in to the tragic crush
Mina : In wake of the gruesome tragedy at Haj, Saudi Arabia’s King Salman has ordered a safety review for the pilgrimage after the tragedy. The king said there was a need “to improve the level of organisation and management of movement” of pilgrims”.
Offering condolences to the relatives of the dead and injured, he said: “We have instructed concerned authorities to review the operations plan and to raise the level of organisation and management to ensure that the guests of God perform their rituals in comfort and ease.”
Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayyef, who chairs the Hajj committee, has begun an inquiry into the tragedy.
Meanwhile, fourteen Indians have been reported killed and 13 others injured in the grisly stampede as the death toll in the worst tragedy to hit the annual pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia in 25 years rose to 719. Another 863 people were injured in the incident at Mina, which occurred on Thursday as two million pilgrims from 180 countries were taking part in the Hajj’s last major rite.
The crush occurred after two massive lines of pilgrims converged on each other from different direction at an intersection close to the five-storey Jamarat Bridge in Mina for symbolic stoning of the devil by throwing pebbles against three stone walls.
Authorities had yesterday said that four Indians, including a woman and a volunteer, were killed in the stampede which occurred at the intersection of two streets leading to Jamarat, about five kilometres from Makkah.
But the number of Indians who died in the stampede rose to 14 today. “Our consul general Jeddah reports loss of 14 Indian lives in stampede,” External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted. Thirteen Indians were among over 800 people injured in the tragedy, she said. “The exact number will be known after confirmation by Saudi authorities,” she further said.
As part of the Hajj, pilgrims travel to Mina to throw seven stones at pillars called Jamarat, which represent the devil. The pillars stand where Satan is believed to have tempted the Prophet Abraham.
The stampede is the second disaster to strike in two weeks, after a crane collapsed at the Grand Mosque in Mecca, killing 109 people, including 11 Indians.
M Inayat Jehangir
