Hajj Stampede Caused by Closure of Exits for the Passage of VIP Convoys: Report

Local Editor

Saudi Arabia: Mena stampede

While no clarification came out of the Saudi authorities regarding Mena incident which left nearly 1000 pilgrims killed, except the Saudi Minister of Health who blamed the victims for their deaths, a US newspaper quoted witnesses as confirming that the Saudi officials are responsible for the incident.

"Some present in the area at the time said security forces had temporarily closed exits from an area packed with pilgrims, causing the crowding that led to the stampede," New York Times said.

According to the paper, Khalid Saleh, a Saudi government employee who rushed to the site when he heard screams and sirens, said he had found “huge numbers of people on the ground either dying or injured.” Pilgrims there told him that some of the area’s exits had been closed so that V.I.P. cars could pass, he said.

The head of Iran’s hajj organization, Said Ohadi, said two paths near the site of the accident had been closed for “unknown reasons.”

“This caused the tragic incident,” he told Iranian state television. “Saudi officials should be held accountable.”

"It was the deadliest accident during the hajj pilgrimage in a quarter-century, with at least 717 pilgrims from around the world killed and more than 850 injured. And it posed yet another challenge for the country’s new leader, King Salman, who is already coping with low oil prices, a war in Yemen and an increasingly fierce rivalry with Iran," New York Times said.

At least 131 Iranians were among the dead. The Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Grand Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei blamed “misconduct and improper acts” by Saudi officials and declared three days of public mourning.