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Death toll in haj crush rises to 769: Saudi health minister
Muslim pilgrims and first responders gather around bodies of people crushed in Mina, Saudi Arabia during the annual hajj pilgrimage.
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A former ambassador to Lebanon is among the missing, state TV said.
Saudi King Salman ordered a review of haj plans, and Health Minister Khalid al-Falih said an investigation would be conducted.
He will also oversee the repatriation of those killed, to take place on Monday according to local media.
Leading the criticism against Saudi Arabia, its regional rival Iran expressed indignation at the deaths of 131 of its nationals at the world’s largest annual gathering of people and suggesting Riyadh was incapable of managing the event.
On Saturday, Iran’s state prosecutor said he will take the Saudis to court over the incident which he termed, “criminal”.
He also called for the Saudi government “to put those responsible on trial”.
The stampede occurred near an intersection of two streets in Mina, around 5 kilometers (3 miles) east of Islam’s holy city of Makkah on Thursday. A massive construction crane collapsed on the Grand Mosque in the nearby holy city of Mecca days before the hajj, martyring 109 people, many of them pilgrims.
“We are pained that this sacred occasion has been marred by tragedy and pray for the recovery of the injured“, they said, condoning Pope Francis’ statements of solidarity with the pilgrims trampled in the stampede.
A report by the Daily Graphic said the Pilgrims Affairs Office of Ghana (PAOG) could not confirm whether the missing Ghanaians, including a Hajj agent, were killed or injured in last Thursday’s stampede in Mina. In one of the final steps of the hajj, pilgrims throw stones at three large pillars in a symbolic casting away of evil.
At the same time, a Saudi Interior Ministry spokesman told the AP news agency that the VIP convoy passed through a different part of town and had nothing to do with the incident.
At the UN General Assembly, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani used his address to the summit to demand an investigation into the crush.
Sheikh Al-Talib urged the Saudi authorities to ensure that such incidents are not repeated.
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Global condolences – and condemnation – flooded into Saudi Arabia on Friday following a Hajj stampede in Mecca a day earlier that killed more than 700 pilgrims.