Previously, the worst hajj-related tragedy, which happened in 1990, killed 1,426 pilgrims in a stampede in an overcrowded pedestrian tunnel leading to holy sites in Mecca, Al Jazeera said.
Jakarta (ANTARA News) - During this years (2015) hajj season, the stampede tragedy occurred in Mina, Saudi Arabia on Thursday morning (Sept 24) which killed more than 700 pilgrims.

Unofficial death toll in Mina stampede incident showed that at least 717 pilgrims were killed and 863 injured in crush in Mina, on the outskirts of the Muslim holy city of Mecca, according to Al Arabiya News.

Meanwhile, two Indonesian pilgrims were reportedly killed in the tragedy that occurred only several days after the collapsed construction crane at Meccas Grand Mosque (Masjidil Haram) on Friday, September 11.

Two Indonesian hajj pilgrims were among hundreds of pilgrims from different countries who died in a tragedy which occurred due to a sudden rush of pilgrims on Street 204 in Mina, Saudi Arabia, on Thursday (Sept 24).

Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi, who is now accompanying Vice President Jusuf Kalla in New York, said that based on information she has received, two Indonesian hajj pilgrims died in the tragedy.

"The information we have received stated that two pilgrims, namely Hamid Atwitarji and Ms Syaisiyah Syahril Abdul Gafar, died in the tragedy," the minister said.

Marsudi further said Religious Affairs Minister Lukman Hakim Saifuddin informed her regarding the death of two Indonesian hajj pilgrims.

The injured have been evacuated to four different hospitals in Mina region, according to a civil defense spokesman.

Al Arabiya News reported that Mina stampede incident occurred because the pilgrims who were going to perform the hurling ritual at Jamarah Aqabah at 07.40 local time, suddenly stopped in the Arab lane, causing pilgrims behind them to push those ahead. This led to the stampede.

Most of the victims who died were either elderly people or women.

Mina is where pilgrims carry out a symbolic stoning of the devil by throwing pebbles against three stone walls.

In addition, Mina also houses to more than 160,000 tents where pilgrims spend the night during the hajj pilgrimage.

Al Jazeera also said, the incident happened in a street between pilgrim camps or Street 204.

"During and after the stampede the pilgrims continued to flock into Mina to perform the devil stoning ritual, Al Jazeera reported.

Saudi-owned al-Arabiya TV channel reported that head of the Central Hajj Committee, Prince Khaled al-Faisal, blamed the stampede on "some pilgrims from African nationalities,"

About 4,000 people from the rescue services were participating in the operation to help the injured and about 220 ambulances were directed to the scene, TV channel quoted a civil defense spokesman as saying.

In 2006, according to Al Jazeera, more than 360 pilgrims were killed in a stampede that also occurred in Mina.

The day before the 2006 Hajj began, an eight-story building being used as a hostel near the Grand Mosque in Mecca collapsed, killing at least 73 people, it said.

Then two years earlier, a crush at Mina killed 244 and injured hundreds on the final day of the pilgrimage.

Another stampede in Mina happened in 2001, that killed 35 people.

Previously, the worst hajj-related tragedy, which happened in 1990, killed 1,426 pilgrims in a stampede in an overcrowded pedestrian tunnel leading to holy sites in Mecca, Al Jazeera added.

Meanwhile, the civil defense team also said that around 4,000 members of their emergency response team, along with the Red Cross, were deployed to the scene to help lead pilgrims to safer routes away from the stampede.

In the meantime, after the tragedy of collapsed construction crane at Meccas Grand Mosque on Friday, September 11, 2015, Religious Affairs Minister, Lukman Hakim Saifuddin urged the Saudi government to realize the compensation for the victims.

To date the crane tragedy has killed at least 11 of the Indonesian Hajj pilgrims and injured 42 others after the discovery of one more body of Indonesian citizens, according to Chief Organizer of Indonesian Hajj Pilgrims (PPIH) for Mecca Desk (Daker), Arsyad Hidayat, said here, on Tuesday.

On September 11, a storm which rocked the Mecca city and caused a crane to collapse that caved in parts of Masjidil Haram Mosque, the worlds largest, which was packed with pilgrims when the incident occurred.(*)

Reporter: Bustanuddin
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2015