This is just horrific. Over 700 people, many making the hajj, are dead after a stampede just outside Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
Reports the New York Times:
At least 717 people were killed and 863 injured in a stampede near Mecca, Saudi Arabia, on Thursday morning.
The deaths — at an intersection in Mina, about six miles east of the city — occurred around 9 a.m. on the first day of Eid al-Adha, one of the holiest days in the Muslim calendar, as millions of Muslims were making their pilgrimage, or hajj, to Mecca.
It appeared to be the deadliest accident during the hajj since 1990, when 1,426 pilgrims perished in a stampede in a tunnel linking Mecca and Mina. And it occurred less than two weeks after a large construction crane toppled and crashed into the Grand Mosque in Mecca, killing at least 111 people and injuring 394 others.
This tragedy comes after over a hundred people were killed after a crane crash in Mecca a couple of weeks ago.
The hajj is a pilgrimage to be carried out at least once in the lifetime of all Muslims, who are capable.
Social media has been filled with scenes from the tragedy (be warned, some are very graphic). Our prayers go out to those affected.
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Photo: AP Photo
