DUSHANBE, September 25, 2015, Asia-Plus – The Committee on Religious Affairs under the Government of Tajikistan (CRA) there are no Tajik nationals among more than 700 pilgrims killed on September 24 in a crush outside the Muslim holy city of Mecca, Saudi authorities said, in the worst disaster to strike the annual Hajj pilgrimage for 25 years.
International media outlets report the at least 717 people died in a stampede near the holy city of Mecca.
Another 863 people were injured in the incident at Mina, which occurred as two million pilgrims were taking part in the Hajj''s last major rite.
According BBC News , Saudi Arabia''s King Salman has ordered a safety review for the Hajj pilgrimage after the accident.
Thursday''s disaster was reportedly the worst to occur at the pilgrimage since July 1990, when 1,426 pilgrims suffocated in a tunnel near Mecca. Both incidents occurred on Eid al-Adha (Feast of the Sacrifice), Islam''s most important feast and the day of the stoning ritual.
It is the second disaster to strike Mecca in two weeks, after a crane collapsed at the Grand Mosque, killing 109 people.
Reuters reports that the Hajj, the world''s largest annual gathering of people, has been the scene of numerous deadly stampedes, fires and riots in the past, but their frequency has been greatly reduced in recent years as the Saudi government spent billions of dollars upgrading and expanding Hajj infrastructure and crowd control technology.
Safety during Hajj is a politically sensitive issue for the kingdom''s ruling Al Saud dynasty, which presents itself internationally as the guardian of orthodox Islam and custodian of its holiest places in Mecca and Medina.
Iran''s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said the Saudi government should accept responsibility for the crush, in which more than 100 Iranian nationals were reported to have died, Reuters reports.
Said Ohadi, the head of Iran''s hajj organization, said on Iranian television that two paths had been closed in Mina and that the closures had caused that tragic accident. According to him, the closures had left only three routes to the area where the symbolic stoning takes place.
Tajikistan reportedly reaches 70 percent of its spring conscription campaign target
An international exhibition-fair expected to open in Dushanbe this coming Friday
Chief of Taldykurgan police department gets a jail term of 11 years for raping a detained local woman
Tajik, Uzbek financial regulators sign a cooperation agreement
EBRD and Switzerland improve water supply in Tajikistan
Russia doesn’t like taking a back seat to China in Central Asia trade
U.S. Ambassador to Tajikistan pays visit to Climate Control Facility in Rasht Valley
25 new countries added on the visa-free countries list
643 Tajiks deported from Moscow through Vnukovo Airport in four days alone
Top Russian diplomat calls his Tajik counterpart to clarify Russia’s anti-terrorism measures at border points
All news