Hajj ends as stampede death toll rises to 769

Saudi Arabia deployed large numbers of special forces Saturday as pilgrims performed the final rituals of a hajj marred by double tragedy, with the toll from a stampede rising to 769.

Health Minister Khaled al-Falih announced the new figure, an increase from the previous toll of 717.

The number hurt rose to 934 from 863 recorded just after the deadliest incident in a quarter-century to strike the annual Muslim pilgrimage.

Dozens of "special emergency force" personnel were seen Saturday on one level of Jamarat Bridge, a five-storey structure in Mina where pilgrims ritually stone the devil, and on which hundreds of thousands were converging when the stampede occurred nearby.

Many more special forces patrolled the network of roads leading to the structure, which resembles a parking garage.

The tightened measures came after the stampede outside Jamarat Bridge.

The interior ministry has said it had assigned 100,000 police to secure the hajj and manage crowds.

But pilgrims blamed the stampede on police road closures and poor management of the throng, during searing temperatures.

Criticism has also been particularly strident from Saudi Arabia's regional rival Iran, which raised to 136 Saturday the number of its people who died.

"It is not only incompetence, but a crime," Iranian Attorney General Ebrahim Raeisi said, calling on the kingdom to take those responsible to court.

Culture Minister Ali Janati is to head a delegation to Saudi Arabia to follow up on 344 Iranians Tehran says are missing.

The disaster was the second deadly accident to hit worshippers this month. A massive construction crane collapsed on the Grand Mosque in the nearby holy city of Mecca days before the hajj, killing 109 people, many of them pilgrims.

Undeterred Saturday, pilgrims in Mina still flooded the area to perform the stoning for a third time, on the last day of the hajj which this year drew about two million people.

They also stood in prayer.

Most pilgrims begin leaving on Saturday, returning to Mecca where they circumambulate the holy Kaaba structure before going home.

"We are thankful to our brothers in Saudi Arabia for this effort," said Abdullah Ali, a 38-year-old Emirati, who blamed other pilgrims for the stampede and urged more awareness.

"As you can see, people come from different backgrounds. They are affected by their cultures."

Abdullah al-Sheikh, chairman of the Shura Council, an appointed body which advises the government, stressed that pilgrims must stick to "the rules and regulations taken by the security personnel".

His comments, reported late Friday by the official Saudi Press Agency, followed similar remarks by Health Minister Khaled al-Falih.

The minister faulted worshippers themselves for the tragedy, saying that if "the pilgrims had followed instructions, this type of accident could have been avoided".

- 'Lesson' for next hajj -

Saudi Arabia's top religious leader, Sheikh Abdul Aziz al-Sheikh, told Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef that the incident was beyond human control.

"You are not responsible for what happened", SPA quoted Sheikh as telling him.

"Fate and destiny are inevitable."

Mohammed chairs the Saudi hajj committee and has ordered an investigation into the stampede.

King Salman, whose official title is "Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques" in Mecca and Medina, also ordered "a revision" of how the hajj is organised.

Saudi authorities have yet to provide a breakdown of the nationalities of pilgrims killed in the stampede, as the difficult process of identification continues.

But several foreign countries, largely African and Asian, have announced deaths.

Only around 250 deaths in total have been officially confirmed by foreign officials.

Sudanese pilgrim Abdulmahmud Rahman, 52, said he was happy to have carried out the hajj rituals but "pained that some pilgrims had died in such catastrophic circumstances".

He said he hoped organisers "would learn a lesson for next year's hajj".

Rahman suggested that when police close roads, it should be done from far away with signs warning pilgrims, so they did not find themselves crowded into the same area.

Interior ministry spokesman General Mansur al-Turki said "a large number of pilgrims were in motion at the same time" at an intersection in Mina.

"The great heat and fatigue of the pilgrims contributed to the large number of victims," he said.

Ali Mohammed Assiri, a 23-year-old Saudi student, said countries sending pilgrims to Saudi Arabia "should first educate them and raise awareness among them on how to follow rules."

For years, the hajj was marred by stampedes and fires, but it had been largely incident-free for nine years after safety improvements and billions of dollars worth of infrastructure investment.

The stoning bridge, erected in the past decade, has a capacity of 300,000 pilgrims an hour and was intended to improve safety after past disasters.

The hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam, and every able-bodied Muslim who can afford it is expected to perform it at least once in a lifetime.

Source: AFP