Saudi Arabia deployed large numbers of special forces Saturday as pilgrims performed the final rituals of a Haj marred by double tragedy, with the death toll from a stampede rising to 769.
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Of the 769 deaths now reported by Saudi authorities, at least 136 were Iranian nationals, who either suffocated or were trampled to death when two huge crowds converged head-on Thursday in a narrow street in Mina, on the outskirts of the holy city of Mecca.
Nonetheless, the diplomatic attack being launched by Tehran exemplifies the strengthened position of Iran following successful nuclear talks and the relative disarray Saudi Arabia finds itself in this year with falling oil prices, the war in Yemen and continued regional instability.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, addressing a United Nations development summit in New York on Saturday, said he wanted to “emphasise the need for swift attention to the injured as well as investigating the causes of this incident and other similar incidents in this year’s hajj”.
Earlier today, AFP reported that Saudi Arabia’s top religious leaders said the stampede was beyond human control.
“The Justice Department demands that the Saudi government put on trial those behind this incident”, Raeisi said, threatening to take the matter to worldwide courts, according to state television. In addition to the more than 700 dead, at least 863 pilgrims were injured.
The Iranians “should know better than to play politics with a tragedy”, Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir told reporters on Saturday.
Saudi King Salman has ordered a safety review into the disaster. True, the Saudis did pump in billions of dollars to ramp up infrastructure but they need to focus attention on man management; going by eyewitness accounts, it seems the latest stampede occurred as pilgrims from opposite directions ran into one another.
Muslims believe the devil tried to talk the Prophet Ibrahim, or Abraham as he is known in the Bible, out of submitting to God’s will in Mina.
The tightened measures came after the stampede outside Jamarat Bridge.
A spokesperson told The Independent that the Government’s “thoughts and prayers” were with those affected, adding: “Staff are working closely with Saudi Arabian authorities checking hospitals and other locations”.
“None of the travel agencies contact and report to the embassy when they bring pilgrims to the country”, a spokesperson said by email.
The number of Indians killed in the stampede near the Muslim holy city of Mecca has risen to 35, India’s foreign ministry has said.
Interior ministry spokesman General Mansur al-Turki said “a large number of pilgrims were in motion at the same time” at an intersection in Mina.
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He said he hoped organizers “would learn a lesson for next year’s hajj“.
