S.Arabia To Upgrade Holy Sites After Stampede Incident

At a royal decree from Saudi King Fahd Bin Abdal Aziz, the committee will draw up a comprehensive plan to develop the holy places, chiefly Mina, some seven kilometers from Makkah, the Saudi news agency (WAS) reported.

It will be headed by Minister Of Municipal and Rural Affairs Mut’ab bin Abdal Aziz, the governor of Makkah, Prince Abdul Majid bin Abdal Aziz and Hajj Minister Iyad bin Amin Madani.

Deadly Stampede
A total of 244 Muslim pilgrims were trampled to death and a similar number injured during the Stoning of Satan ritual, which closes the rituals for the nearly two million Muslim pilgrims who flocked to Mina, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

The dead included 54 Indonesians, 36 Pakistanis, 13 Egyptians, 11 Turks, 11 Indians, 10 Algerians, 10 Bangladeshis, eight Sudanese, seven Moroccans, five Chinese, four Yemenis, three Sri Lankans, two Afghans, two Somalis, two Syrians, two Saudis, one Burmese, one Omani, one Tunisian, one Nigerian, one Chadian and one Cameroonian.

Another 58 people who died had not been identified, according to the list carried by the official Saudi press agency (WAS), although three were said to be from southeast Asia.

The huge crush started around9 : 00am ( 0600GMT) as large numbers of white-robed pilgrims surged toward the Jamarat Bridge to lob stones at the pillars representing the devil. The incident lasted for27 minutes.

"We believe that most of the dead are from among illegal pilgrims," Madani said, referring to those who arrived earlier in the year to perform the Umrah (minor pilgrimage) and stayed illegally, as well as local residents who never registered for the hajj.

He said2 , 000national guard members were moved to the area following the stampede to reinforce10 , 000police already on site, while helicopters also hovered overhead.

Despite the stampede, the ritual continued for two and a half hours.

"What happened this morning did not stop the accomplishing of the hajj rituals. The pilgrims continued to rush in," Waleed Faydullah, a 32 -year-old Egyptian, told AFP.
The incident occurred despite that the time for throwing Jamrat Al-`Aqabah on the day of `Eid, for those who are able to do it, is from sunrise, and for those who are weak and unable to cope with the crowding from the end of the night.

Yelling "Allahu Akbar", pilgrims hurl seven small stones from behind a fence or from an overhead bridge every day for three days at each of the three18 -metre (58-foot) high concrete pillars that symbolize Satan.

The pillars stand only 155 meters (yards) apart and were mobbed as the pilgrims tried to get close despite beefed-up security measures.

Satan appeared on the same site to the Prophet Abraham, son Ismael and wife Hagar, who each threw seven stones at the devil.

The first two days of the pilgrimage passed without incident under tight security — although authorities said they arrested in Riyadh on Thursday, January29 , seven suspected members of a "terror group" planning an attack.

There have been many deadly stampedes in the past. Last year, 14 pilgrims, including six women, were killed in a stampede during the first day of the stoning ritual and 35 in2001 , while the 1998 hajj saw 118 killed and more than 180 hurt at Mina.

The worst toll of the pilgrimage was in July1990 , when1 , 426pilgrims were trampled or asphyxiated to death in a stampede in a tunnel, also in Mina.

An Egyptian scholar put forward last month a couple of creative ideas to alleviate the too much crowding in hajj season, suggesting to make some of the rituals automated

The hajj, one of the five pillars of Islam along with faith, prayer, charity and the annual Ramadan fast, climaxed on Saturday on the nearby plain of Arafat where pilgrims prayed for forgiveness, after which they spent the night in the town of Muzdalifa.

The pilgrims had spent Friday, January30 , in prayer and meditation in Mina, some seven kilometers (4. 5miles) away from Makkah.