MAKKAH, 14 January 2006 - Thursday's Mina stampede, which killed at least 363 people, was caused by pilgrims carrying a lot of baggage while going to perform the stoning ritual, Crown Prince Sultan said yesterday.

He expressed his deep sorrow over the deaths and injuries caused by the tragedy and conveyed the government's condolences to the bereaved families.

Prince Sultan said the government had mobilized all its resources to ensure the security of pilgrims, adding that pilgrims were performing the stoning ritual without any problem. 

"What happened was that more than 12 people carrying a large quantity of baggage on their backs fell on the ground one on top of the other as a result of overcrowding," he said.

The crown prince said the death of pilgrims in the stampede was "fate and divine decree", which could not be prevented. "If anybody believes that we can stop the divine decree he is mistaken," the Saudi Press Agency quoted him as saying. 

Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Mansour Al-Turki told a press conference that 44 of the identified dead were Indians, followed by 37 Pakistanis, 18 Saudis, 12 Bangladeshis, 10 Egyptians, seven Yemenis, six Sudanese, six Maldivians, six Turks, five Algerians, five Afghans, four Moroccans, three Iraqis, two Omanis, two Iranians, two Syrians, two Chinese, and one each from Jordan, Ethiopia, Germany, Chad, Belgium, Palestine, Ghana, Turkistan and Nigeria

Al-Turki said authorities identified 203 dead pilgrims through their wrist rings and their relatives. They included 118 men and 85 women. "Of the people injured in the stampede 18 were Saudi security men," he pointed out. He said about 70 percent of the pilgrims (nearly two million) would leave Mina early, a day before the conclusion of Haj. 

He said the Kingdom has obtained adequate experience in dealing with Haj crowds, adding that most countries lacked such an experience.

Meanwhile, stricken families were hunting for their loved ones yesterday at hospitals in Makkah and Mina. Weeping in front of a wall of pictures of dead pilgrims, families continued to seek news of missing relatives at the morgue in Mina.

Eyewitnesses and Saudi authorities, meanwhile, blamed unruly pilgrims for the tragedy. 

"Many of the pilgrims were disorderly. The government has made every effort and done everything it should," Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Asheikh, the grand mufti, told Saudi TV. 

"It pains us that so many people died, but we must point out that the security forces averted many more disasters from happening and saved many lives," Interior Minister Prince Naif was quoted as saying by the Saudi Press Agency. 

"They did everything, but the crowd was unmanageable," said Tehmina Almas Syed, an Indian woman pilgrim who wept hysterically at a hospital bed in Mina. "There was total chaos. It was like a pressure cooker. Everybody was looking for an outlet to get out of the mess. We were told by scholars at the Haj Committee orientation camps in Maharashtra that we should perform the stoning ritual only after noon on the last day. That was a fatal mistake. I spoke to so many people here and they said all the other scholars have given them permission to stone the devil right from sunrise. I wish I had listened to them and not our scholars in India."

The Interior Ministry had said it would stop pilgrims squatting with their belongings by the side of the Jamrat Bridge. Officials say that around 300,000 expatriates working in the Kingdom slip into Makkah and Mina to join some 2.5 million pilgrims. The ministry urged foreign Haj missions to enlighten their pilgrims about performing the Haj rituals in a peaceful and orderly manner to prevent stampedes and other accidents.

Recalling the moments leading up to the tragedy, Saeed Al-Harthi from Taif said: "The noise was deafening when the tragedy occurred with the helicopters hovering overhead and the ambulance sirens blaring. The fallen pilgrims were efficiently lifted one by one onto stretchers and carried to ambulances, which gingerly crept through the crowd. It was extremely pitiful to see the injured pilgrims as they were being moved away, stretching out their arms, trying to clutch onto relatives or friends. They feared separation from their loved ones even though many were obviously in need of urgent treatment."

"We have to be practical," said Abdul Khaleq Abdul Haq of Cairo, Egypt. "The serious overcrowding at the Jamrat is causing many women to deputize others to do the stoning on their behalf. This is wise. In addition it should be said that part of the reason for the terrible crush was that many pilgrims wanted to rush back to Makkah," he explained.

At the site of the stampede, members of the Saudi security forces were out in force at the entrance to the bridge to separate thousands of pilgrims still flowing in into two lanes. More than 60,000 security, health, emergency and other personnel were involved in organizing this year's Haj, trying to prevent the deadly incidents.

The stoning ritual, which is spread out over four days, marks the final part of the Haj.

"Events like this show that pilgrims should know the rules and practices of Haj," Sheikh Saud Al-Shuraim, an imam of the Grand Mosque in Makkah, told thousands of pilgrims gathered at the large mosque complex for the Juma prayer.

Instructions to leave behind heavy belongings - which can quickly block busy paths of pilgrims - are also frequently ignored, Saudi officials say.

"I was on the bridge and it was really tight up there and then all of a sudden I felt myself being shoved from behind and then I was walking on top of people," said an injured Jordanian pilgrim from his hospital bed in Mina. "It was uncontrollable."

Many insist on stoning at Jamrat after noon prayers instead of staggering the ritual through the day as many scholars recommend. "There is a lot of contradiction on when it is permissible to stone and Saudis have to clarify this. Many people here believe they can only stone after noon prayers," said Mona, a 32-year-old British pilgrim. "I think the culture of the people is to blame."

Saudi Arabia has revamped the Jamrat area by expanding the stoning targets and provided an unprecedented security blanket to control the huge crowd. After two days, work on an SR4 billion Jamrat expansion project will be started. It involves a four-level system of entrances and exits to the three walls, including a subway.

But the huge numbers, which are swelled every year by hundreds of thousands of people who sneak illegally into the sacred areas, make controlling the immense crowd made up of many different nationalities an extremely difficult feat.

Authorities rule out a significant reduction in the number of pilgrims. 

"What we need is for the Islamic scholars of the Kingdom and of other Muslim countries to extrapolate from the Qur'an and the Sunnah what will make the pilgrimage as smooth as possible," SPA quoted Prince Naif as saying after the stampede. "It is their duty to protect the lives of the Muslims...we all know the large number of security forces that were deployed this year, but some things are just above the ability of human beings. What happened was God's will." 

Indian Consul General Ausaf Sayeed said two of the dead Indians were legal residents of the Kingdom.

K. Rahman Khan, deputy chairman of Rajya Sabha and head of the Indian goodwill delegation, convened an emergency meeting of all members of the delegation last night to take stock of the situation. 

Khan constituted various teams from among the members of the goodwill delegation, which later met with the relatives of those who died in the tragedy. They condoled the deaths of the Indians pilgrims on behalf of Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and the United Progressive Alliance government.

"It is a very tragic incident. We have identified that 36 bodies are from Pakistan," Pakistan's Religious Affairs Minister Ejazul Haq said. "Their bodies were badly crushed." 

Several more of the 150,000 Pakistanis who went for Haj are still missing and Pakistani officials are checking morgues, added Haq.

"So far five Turkish pilgrims have been identified" in a hospital morgue, the deputy head of the Turkish religious affairs directorate, Fikret Karaman, told the Anatolia news agency. "We are still trying to locate eight other (Turkish) pilgrims we have been unable to contact so far," he said. "We hope to find them alive."

At least two Indonesians were among those killed. However some 200,000 Indonesian pilgrims had been advised to perform the ritual in the late afternoon, after the busiest period, said Amidhan, vice chairman of the Indonesian Council of Muslim Scholars.

Four Chinese citizens were also among the dead, a Foreign Ministry statement in Beijing said. Chinese President Hu Jintao sent a message of condolence to Saudi Arabia over the tragedy and urged Chinese officials to help wounded Chinese citizens, Xinhua news agency reported.

The scene in Mina was of utter disbelief, grief and sorrow. Those who remained there to perform the stoning ritual for the fourth day were moving briskly toward Jamrat. Pilgrims atop buses and other vehicles were moving out on their onward journey to Makkah for Tawaf Al-Ifada and Tawaf Al-Widae rituals before returning to their respective destinations. The tent city of Mina started slipping back into silence.

The hustle and bustle that the city witnessed for the past five days was not seen and it started looking like a silent and lifeless valley. Some of the pilgrims visited the place of the tragedy to find out what had happened there, looking at objects left by the dead pilgrims.

Most of them were blaming the squatters and those who had come to perform Haj without any arrangement. 

Ghulam Mustafa, a Syrian pilgrim, said, "The stampede could have been averted if these pilgrims were driven out from the streets. I appeal to the authorities to deal with these people sternly to avoid repeat of such tragedies in the future."

- With input from Siraj Wahab, Syed Faisal Ali, Hasan Hatrash & Wael Mahdi

JEDDAH, 14 January 2006 - Thursday's deadly stampede in Mina that marred this year's otherwise successful Haj operation was unavoidable as a large sea of pilgrims, some carrying huge baggage, were moving forth to the Jamrat at noon to perform the stoning ritual despite warnings.

"It was as if a huge wave from the sea came gushing down on the pilgrims," said an Arab pilgrim who had just identified the wife of his friend among the dead. 

Many pilgrims were unaware of or ignored the religious edict issued by scholars that they can perform the ritual before noon. At the time of Dhuhr prayer on that day, nearly one million pilgrims were present in and around the Jamrat. It was really frightening.

Security forces were doing their best to control the crowd. They stopped many pilgrims carrying baggage and made them leave their belongings behind before moving forward. But it was not possible for them to check all such baggage in such huge crowd.

People were given instructions through huge signboards and microphones to stop moving forward to avoid stampede. But due to overcrowding, people were unable to control themselves and some disorderly pilgrims rushed ahead pushing others in their bid to finish off the ritual quickly and caused the stampede.

The uncontrollable crowd did not augur well as it foretold the possibility of an impending crush and within minutes hundreds of pilgrims were trampled to death. The quick intervention of security forces helped bring down the death toll in one of the biggest tragedies in Haj history.

Special security forces immediately cordoned off the area and were seen battling the crowd who wanted to enter the area where injured pilgrims were given treatment. Nasser, an Indian pilgrim from Kerala, who had ribs broken, told Arab News that he had lost his mother and wife in the stampede. He was angry at the Haj service agent who instructed them to perform the stoning ritual soon after Dhuhr prayer.

Health officials and the National Guard were arrived at the scene of the crush within minutes to provide first aid to the victims. Many pilgrims were also seen helping the injured by providing water and assisting health officials.

Most victims were left alone on the ground separated from their relatives and friends. It wasn't only the elderly and women who were among the victims, but also the young and strong. 

Some pilgrims, who were brought on stretchers, were seen walking away after receiving first-aid treatment while those having deep injuries were quickly taken to hospitals. The stampede did not disrupt the stoning rituals as it continued smoothly. Most pilgrims were unaware of what had happened.

The repeated tragedies near the Jamarat Bridge demand drastic measures to prevent their recurrence. Security officers must be given intense training in crowd management and pilgrims must be educated on how to avoid such deadly accidents. 

MINA, 14 January 2006 - Each photo has a number. A grieving relative notes this number and gives it to hospital staff in order to see a corpse. 

This process was repeated hundreds of times at the Muaisem Emergency Medical Center near Mina yesterday.

About 100 people were seen by Arab News frantically scanning the 300 or so photos in a room near the hospital's morgue where hundreds of victims of Thursday's tragic stampede waited to be claimed. In one corner a television played a video loop of the same pictures. 

Occasionally, somebody would cry out, having found a picture of their missing loved one. Others left the room relieved that their friends or relatives remained missing but probably alive somewhere. 

Altafur Rehman, from Varansi, India, broke down in tears as he found his wife among the macabre collage of mangled and bruised faces. "I am in extreme pain and disbelief that my wife fell down before my eyes and I could not help her," said Rehman. "I am unable now to go back to face my 10 children waiting for their mother back at home."

Pakistani national Hamid-u-Din was seen chasing after a stretcher carrying the body of his sister Haleema as it was taken into the refrigerated morgue. He yelled with frustration regarding how to claim the body.

"I want to send the body back to Pakistan, but I have no idea about the formalities involved," he said in tears.

Hamid complained bitterly that the stampede would have been avoided if the squatters weren't allowed to sit on the pavement crowding the entry points to the Jamrat Bridge.

At the very moment Mohammed Sareeduddin was speaking to Arab News, he seemed to be shifting from disbelief to acceptance of the death of his uncle, Mohammad Bahauddin of Hyderabad, India.

"The picture of my uncle is there, but the body is so badly damaged that I am still hopeful that it is not my uncle. The face is unrecognizable," said Sareed. "I am keeping hope that he is still alive. And that is why I want to see the body."

Then, as quickly as he expressed his desperate hope, Sareed began looking for someone to let him into the morgue to see the body and give him further instructions. Saddened by this acceptance, Sareed consoled himself by saying that it was Allah's will, and that Allah will accept his uncle's pilgrimage and grant him a place in paradise.

Confusion persisted among some grieving pilgrims who did not speak Arabic. Despite the best intentions of hospital staffers, the process of getting information and identifying bodies confounded many. 

About 50 to 70 people gathered at the doors of the morgue, hoping for a peek inside, anxious to finalize their worst fears by seeing for themselves the bodies. 

Bassam Mohammad, a Saudi, told Arab News that he and his group of 20 to 25 had lost three of their friends and relatives in the stampede.

"We are here to identify three bodies and do the formalities to take possession of them," said Mohammad. "Nothing can happen in the world without Allah's will. Whatever happened yesterday was Allah's will. We should not cry and yell, instead we should pray for the peace and salvation of the dead."

Mohammad Othman, a Sudanese, was there to find out about the fate of his friend's wife, saying that his friend fainted in the stampede and was recuperating in another hospital in Mina. "Thank God at least my friend is alive to take care of his family back in Sudan," said Othman. "My friend's wife has come to perform Haj and go back to her country, but she was destined to die in Mina."

A man deeply in grief and sorrow sitting in the corridor of the hospital, who identified himself only as Ahmad from Allahabad, India, said he lost his friend Mohammad Alam Siddiqui, 32, and his mother Shaheeda Begum, 56. Shaheeda's husband survived.

"Alam's father escaped unhurt and has reached Makkah. I have informed him about the death of his son and wife. I don't know how he's coping with the situation alone in Makkah," said Ahmad.

Outside, ambulances continued to arrive with bodies among a crowd of people waiting for news of their missing loved ones. With heavy hearts, people loaded the bodies of local residents who were taken away for burial.

MINA, 14 January 2006 - The new Umrah regulations that issue pilgrimage visas year-round is one of the key causes in the increase in overstayers and illegal squatters during Haj, according to Dr. Rashad Mohammed Hussein, vice chairman of the board of South Asian Pilgrim Establishment.

"Those overstaying pilgrims, in addition to existing illegal residents, form more than 76 percent of squatters in the holy sites," Hussein said yesterday in an interview with Arab News.

Squatters that have caused bottlenecks around the entrances to the Jamrat Bridge have been blamed for Thursday's fatal stampede that killed at least 363 pilgrims.

Hussein pointed out that the relaxation of Umrah visa regulations has encouraged an increase in illegal pilgrims. Many pilgrims come for Umrah (the lesser pilgrimage) and decide to remain in the country to wait for the pilgrimage that fulfills one of the pillars of Islam, the Haj. 

Squatters, who are not performing their Haj through the tour operators (Tawafas), are often seen carrying all of their belongings with them during the rituals. Some simply decide to set up their illegal camps at locations near the holy sites, such as the walkways and entrances to the Jamrat Bridge.

Still others, who are legal, simply decide not to return to their legal campsites for the three-day stoning ritual.

"When they reach the Jamrat after walking for more than four or five kilometers many of the pilgrims are exhausted, and they decide to stay near the Jamrat instead of going back to their faraway camps," he said.

The illegal squatters, the ones who simply forgo the requirement to register with Tawafa organizations, are both Saudi and foreign. These illegal pilgrims become squatters for two reasons, Hussein said: One is economical - they cannot afford to pay for a Tawafa establishment - and the other is spiritual - they simply don't believe in the need to get a license to perform Haj. The latter is especially true of Saudi pilgrims, some of whom take umbrage at the law that restricts the number of times the Haj can be performed to once every five years. 

The majority of the squatters, however, are foreign. And these numbers have swelled due to the year-round issuance of Umrah visas, said Hussein. The Haj Ministry estimates that one million Umrah pilgrims arrive every month, and some decide to stay illegally, waiting for the next Haj. 

"If we find a solution to minimize the problem caused by overstaying Umrah pilgrims, we would be solving the biggest problem that causes the stampedes," said Hussein.


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