At least 453 dead, 450 injured in crush outside Mecca

Mike Gallagher

Sep 24, 2015 - 08:55

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At least 453 dead, 450 injured in crush outside Mecca

Hundreds of pilgrims killed, injured in Hajj stampede

At least 453 people taking part in the Hajj pilgrimage are dead and more than 450 injured following a stampede near Mecca, Saudi Arabian officials have said.

The crush took place as more than two million pilgrims gathered at Mina, between Mount Arafat and the Grand Mosque in the Islamic holy city of Mecca.

The Saudi civil defence directorate said via Twitter that 4,000 medical and rescue personnel had been sent to the scene, along with more than 220 emergency and rescue units.

The injured are being taken to four hospitals in the area.

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(Picture: PA)

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(Picture: Getty Images)

It is the second disaster that has taken place in and around Mecca this month.

Earlier in September, 109 people died and 400 were injured when a crane collapsed at Mecca"s Grand Mosque.

Victims of the stampede are of ‘different nationalities", the Saudi directorate said.

What is the Hajj?

The Hajj is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca. Adult Muslims who are physically and financially capable of undertaking the jouey must carry out the religious duty at least once in their lifetime. The Hajj is the fifth and final pillar of Islam. The other pillars are Shahadah, Salat, Zakat and Sawm.

It is still not known exactly how the stampede started.

Saudi Arabian authorities introduced safety measures nearly a decade ago, and the Hajj has been largely incident free for the past nine years.

In 2006, a stampede during the stoning of the devil at Mina left 364 pilgrims dead.