Horror in Mina
At least 717 people have died in a stampede near Mecca; 863 were injured.
During the Hajj, pilgrims travel to Mina, a large valley about 5km (3 miles) from Mecca, 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.
That sounds like a harmless game, except that it involves huge crowds of people.
Tchima Illa Issoufou, BBC Hausa, whose aunt was killed reports:
People were going towards the direction of throwing the stones while others were coming from the opposite direction. Then it became chaotic and suddenly people started going down.
There were people from Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Senegal among other nationalities. People were just climbing on top of others in order to move to a safer place and that’s how some people died.
People were chanting Allah’s name while others were crying, including children and infants. People fell on the ground seeking help but there was no-one to give them a helping hand. Everybody seemed to be on their own.
It affected some members of our group. I lost my aunt as a result of the stampede and at the moment, two women from our entourage – a mother and her daughter – are still missing.
The Saudis rushed to place the blame where it belonged:
Saudi-owned al-Arabiya TV reported that the head of the central Hajj committee, Prince Khaled al-Faisal, blamed the stampede on “some pilgrims with African nationalities”.
Uh huh.
So much for the ummah.
700 people. Seven hundred people. 8-O
Can we stop and think how much seven hundred people is? (About a quarter the death toll of 9/11.) So they can throw stones at pillars representing Satan.
Were I religious, I would have to conclude that Satan won.
Well, even if they had stopped to admire the landscape, the lack of proper crowd control facilities in a rich country is just appalling. The stampede is not unique, there is a long history of stampedes and crowds crushing people.
I wonder if it is possible to sue Saudi for negligence?
There were scandals about the pollution of zamzam water a few year ago too.
Some news reports of the Iranians blaming the Saudis…because Shia/Sunni.
The Haj, and its rituals are MUCH more bizarre than most westerners grasp. A weird array of pagan rituals around various sites in Mecca.
The Haj, and its rituals are MUCH more bizarre than most westerners grasp
When I read foreign practices described as “bizarre” and “weird”, I suppose that the person delivering these judgements is expressing his prejudices, that those terms tell me more about his narrowness than the rituals he is describing. I don’t say this from a cultural relativist standpoint, there are plenty of things which are dangerous, harmful, cruel and so on, but “bizarre” and “weird” don’t seem to me to have much content besides denigration.
@suya : it’s nice you’re so much better than other people.
Now, have you any actual knowledge about Haj rituals, and do you plan to obtain any? Including the regular death toll?
@Suya : FWIW. I think “weird” and “bizarre” can be used in non-denigratory ways ones that suggest something is good weird or good bizarre as well. Artworks for example novels or paintings and to say something is weird and bizarre is NOT necessarily equalling saying it is wrong or unethical.
I would take John the Drunkard’s comment there are a simple statement of fact and his opinion rather than a sign of Islamophobia or prejudice. It is fact that most Westerners would probably find the rituals surprisngly bizarre and oddly paganistic and idol-worshippy. Its subjective opinion I guess that the Hajj rituals are indeed “bizarre” and “weird” although I think there’s a strong case that almost everyone not a member of their particular overgrown cult would consider them so. (Along with most religious rituals to those not following that religion.)
Also is that really going to be the limit or first priority of your contribution here and opinions on this terrible event?
It is tragic that this latest – and incidentally not the worst – stampede at Mecca has claimed so many lives so needlessly and disgraceful that the Saudis have blamed the victims – quite literally and with an added splash of anti-African racism.
After all these tragedies :
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/24/timeline-of-tragedies-in-mecca-during-hajj
You’d think the Saudis would have learned and changed things to prevent recurrences of these stampedes and deaths. Seems not. Certainly not enough.
Worst one was in 1990 where 1,426 mostly Asian Muslims died.
Perhaps its time to limit the numbers attending? Among other management measures?
https://www.facebook.com/144310995587370/photos/a.271728576178944.71555.144310995587370/1053885487963245/?l=0e011d70ab
Silentbob:
Were I religious, I would have to conclude that Satan won.
That’s only because you’re not looking at it from the ‘correct’ perspective. Those who die while on the hajj are martyrs and the Arabic-language (and sometimes English-language Mideast and African) papers frequently reinforce this view in their reporting of these all too routine incidents. Nobody seems to be much interested if this reinforcement helps create the danger of another stampede.