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On 24 September 2015, a crowd crush resulted in the death of more than 2,000 individuals, many of whom were suffocated or crushed, during the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Mina,
Mecca Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow ...
, Saudi Arabia, making it the deadliest Hajj disaster in history. Estimates of the number of dead vary: the
Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...
reported dead, while Agence France-Presse reported killed. Based on the total of the individual national reports cited in the table below ( nationalities of victims), at least people died.This figure is based on the total of people killed from the most recent sources used to create the "Nationalities of victims" table, and is calculated from those sources by Wikipedia editors. Note that the total of all deaths reported by nation (2,431) is greater than total deaths reported by most up-to-date sources ( AP: 2,411 & AFP: 2,286). Some of those killed may have had multiple citizenships or some national counts or references may be incorrect. The government of
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...
officially reported two days after the event that there had been 769 deaths and 934 injured. These figures remained official at the time of the next year's Hajj and were never updated. The largest number of victims were from Iran, followed by Mali and Nigeria. The crush occurred in Mina at the intersection of streets 204 and 223 leading to
Jamaraat Bridge The Jamaraat Bridge ( ar, جسر الجمرات; transliterated: ''Jisr Al-Jamarat'') is a pedestrian bridge in Mina, Saudi Arabia, near Makkah used by Muslims during the Hajj ritual Stoning of the Devil. The purpose of the bridge is to enable ...
. The cause of the disaster remains in dispute. The Mina disaster inflamed tensions between regional rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran, which were already elevated due to the wider turmoil in the Middle East, such as the Syrian Civil War and Yemeni Civil War. In a press conference held on the day of the incident, Saudi Ministry of Interior spokesman Mansour Al-Turki attempted to address most issues regarding the incident. He said in September 2015 that an investigation was ongoing, and that the exact cause of the overcrowding that resulted in the deadly crush had not yet been ascertained.


Background

The Hajj is an annual pilgrimage in
Mecca Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow ...
prescribed as a duty for Muslims to perform at least once during their lifetime if they can afford to do so physically and financially. As traditionally performed, the Hajj consists of a series of rites including the
Stoning of the Devil The Stoning of the Devil ( ar, رمي الجمرات , " throwing of the ' lace of pebbles) is part of the annual Islamic Hajj pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia. During the ritual, Muslim pilgrims throw pebbles at three walls ( ...
( ar, ') which is done at the
Jamaraat Bridge The Jamaraat Bridge ( ar, جسر الجمرات; transliterated: ''Jisr Al-Jamarat'') is a pedestrian bridge in Mina, Saudi Arabia, near Makkah used by Muslims during the Hajj ritual Stoning of the Devil. The purpose of the bridge is to enable ...
in Mina, a district a few miles east of Mecca. The Jamaraat Bridge is a pedestrian bridge from which pilgrims can throw pebbles at the three ''jamrah'' ("pebble") pillars. The stoning ritual is the last major ritual and the part of the Hajj with the most potential for disaster given its large crowds, confined spaces, and precise scheduling. The 2015 Hajj occurred during a time of regional turmoil (including wars in Syria,
Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...
,
Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...
, and
Libya Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...
), the highest temperatures in Mecca in 20 years, the threat of MERS, and pre-existing tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran. A number of Hajj-related crowd crush disasters have occurred in the past, with 1,426 people being suffocated and trampled to death in a 1990 tunnel tragedy, and at least 701 people killed in crowd crushes between 1991 and 2005. 346 people were killed in a similar Jamaraat incident in 2006, which prompted the
Saudi government The politics of Saudi Arabia takes place in the context of a unitary absolute monarchy along Islamic lines, where the King is both the head of state and government. Decisions are, to a large extent, made on the basis of consultation among t ...
to improve the infrastructure of the city and its procession routes. The Saudi Arabian government has been spending $60 billion to expand the Grand Mosque which houses the Kaaba, and has deployed 100,000 security forces and 5,000 CCTV cameras to monitor the crowds. The Saudis have also built a permanent tent city in the Mina valley. It is covered with approximately 160,000 air-conditioned tents across multiple campsites (grouped by nationality) for use by Hajj pilgrims.


Disaster

According to a statement by the Saudi civil defence directorate, the stampede occurred Thursday 24 September 2015 at 09:00 Mecca time (06:00 UTC) at the junction between street 204 and 223 as pilgrims were en route to the Jamaraat Bridge. The Saudi Interior Ministry stated that the stampede began when two large groups of pilgrims intersected from different directions onto the same street. The area was not identified previously as dangerous.
The junction lay between two pilgrim camp sites. The '' International Business Times'' reported that the governor of Mecca Province and Saudi Arabia's director of the main Hajj committee, Prince
Khalid bin Faisal Al Saud Khalid bin Faisal Al Saud ( ar, خالد بن فيصل ال سعود ''Khālid bin Fayṣal Āl Suʿūd''; born 24 February 1940) is a Saudi Arabian politician, artist, and poet who is the governor of Makkah Province, in office from 2007 to 2013 ...
, blamed the crush outside the holy city on "some pilgrims with African nationalities"; prompting condemnation from several African government officials. In a press conference held the day of the incident, spokesman of the Ministry of Interior Mansour Al-Turki attempted to address the incident. He said that an investigation was ongoing, that the exact causes for crowding that resulted in the deadly stampede on Mina Street 204 are yet to be ascertained. He explained that "Street number 204 is a road leading from the camps to the Jamarat Bridge. What happened was that a group of pilgrims on buses were allowed to descend onto the pathways that lead to the Jamarat Bridge at a time that wasn’t allocated to them," Al Arabiya News Channel's correspondent in Mina, Saad Al-Matrafi said. "As they neared the area, they converged with an existing group of people who were already in the area, which pushed the area to over capacity." One day after the Mina crush disaster, Saudi media publicized a statement by the
Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia The Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia is the most senior and most influential Muslim religious and legal authority in Saudi Arabia. The holder of the position is appointed by the King. The Grand Mufti is the head of the Permanent Committee for Islamic ...
,
Abdul-Aziz ibn Abdullah Al ash-Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Abdullah Al-Sheikh ( ar, عبد العزيز بن عبد الله آل الشيخ ''ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn ʿAbd Āllah Āl ash-Sheikh''; born 30 November 1940) is a Saudi Arabian Islamic scholar who is the current Grand Mufti of Sau ...
, exonerating Crown Prince Muhammad bin Nayef (known as "MBN") from responsibility for the disaster, as his title of Minister of the Interior holds him accountable for safety issues at the Mecca shrine. The Grand Mufti's statement, which characterized the incident as "beyond human control", "inevitable", and attributable to "fate", immunized MBN against possible domestic criticism.


Casualties

The exact
casualty Casualty may refer to: *Casualty (person), a person who is killed or rendered unfit for service in a war or natural disaster **Civilian casualty, a non-combatant killed or injured in warfare * The emergency department of a hospital, also known as ...
total for the Mina crowd collapse is disputed. The Saudi government officially reported deaths, a number that was not changed, while Iranian media sources have proposed totals as great as 4,173, after a withdrawn early number given by Saudi authorities. Independent estimates range between and (see nationalities of victims table) people killed, with the most recent Associated Press estimate giving a death toll of , based on "media reports and officials comments from 36 of the over 180 countries that sent citizens to the hajj". Estimates of the injured and missing also vary greatly; Saudi reports claim 934 injured; Iranian reports are much higher, estimating more than 2,000 injuries. On the day of the disaster, the Saudi Civil Defence directorate stated that casualties were of multiple nationalities and announced the deployment of 4,000 personnel to the stampede site alongside 220 emergency response units. Pilgrims were redirected away from the stampede site, and the Saudi Red Crescent Authority was mobilised. Medics at Mina's emergency hospital said they alone received almost 700 people on the day of the incident. The eight hospitals around the Hajj landmarks and the six main hospitals in the city of Mecca were operating at full capacity after the stampede, medics said. By 2 October 2015, the Saudi Arabia Health Ministry stated they had completed the DNA profiling of all unidentified pilgrims who were killed or injured in the crush. DNA samples of the next of kin of Hajj stampede victims were collected at Al-Nour Specialist Hospital, Mecca.


Prominent victims

* Ghazanfar Roknabadi, an Iranian diplomat who served as Iranian ambassador to Lebanon from 2010 to 2014, was missing, and confirmed dead on 25 November 2015. Iran's
Iranian Students News Agency The Iranian Students' News Agency (ISNA) is a news agency run by Iranian university students. Position It covers a variety of national and international topics.Engber, Daniel. What's With the Iranian Students News Agency?, ''Slate'', 2 Februa ...
(ISNA) reported that the body of Roknabadi, who had been reported as missing, was identified by DNA testing and visual confirmation by two of his brothers. While some Iranian officials had said Roknabadi was alive and had been kidnapped by Saudi Arabia covertly, Iranian news source Mehr News Agency reported that he died in the crush. Iran stated it would conduct independent medical tests to determine whether Roknabadi did die in the Mina disaster.Saudi Arabia had initially denied that Roknabadi was present at the 2015 Hajj. Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Marzieh Afkham, on 28 September 2015, referring to Saudi media reports that say they do not have any official record of the entry of Ghazanfar Asl Roknabadi into the kingdom, described the reports as "incorrect" and "hasty", saying the ministry has documents showing that Riyadh had approved an ordinary Hajj visa for the dead diplomat. Iranian media also released footage on 29 September 2015, showing Roknabadi's presence in Mina. The passport showing his entrance into Saudi Arabia was also released by Iranian media. * Adeola Maurufudeen Adefolabi, from
Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national capital of Nigeria until December 1991 fo ...
, Nigeria, was a one-term member representing
Ifako-Ijaiye Ifako-Ijaiye is a city and local government area in Lagos, Nigeria. It has a land area of 43 square kilometers (17 sq mi) and had a population of 427,878 people in 2006. The current Executive Chairman is Prince Usman Akanbi Hamzat. History The I ...
in the lower chamber of the National Assembly and former chairman of Ifako Ijaiye and Ojokoro Local Government Areas. * Tijani El-Miskin was a professor of Islamic Studies at the University of Maiduguri and a former director of a special training course for the students of Arabic studies at the University of Maiduguri in Gamboru. He also was the Chairman of the Borno State Pilgrims Board. * Hajiya Bilkisu Yusuf was the first female editor from the northern part of Nigeria. She studied political science in Nigeria and the United States and journalism in Russia. After that, Bilkisu Yusuf pursued a successful career in journalism in Nigeria, working for the '' Daily Trust'' and ''
Leadership Leadership, both as a research area and as a practical skill, encompasses the ability of an individual, group or organization to "lead", influence or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations. The word "leadership" often gets vi ...
'' newspapers and several local editions in
Kano Kano may refer to: Places *Kano State, a state in Northern Nigeria * Kano (city), a city in Nigeria, and the capital of Kano State **Kingdom of Kano, a Hausa kingdom between the 10th and 14th centuries **Sultanate of Kano, a Hausa kingdom between ...
and Kaduna states. * Mufti Mohammed Farooq, a prominent Indian Islamic scholar who was to perform Hajj, has been missing since the stampede. Farooq, a senior religious scholar, is a prolific writer and has authored more than 50 books on a range of subjects, including
Hadith Ḥadīth ( or ; ar, حديث, , , , , , , literally "talk" or "discourse") or Athar ( ar, أثر, , literally "remnant"/"effect") refers to what the majority of Muslims believe to be a record of the words, actions, and the silent approva ...
and
Fiqh ''Fiqh'' (; ar, فقه ) is Islamic jurisprudence. Muhammad-> Companions-> Followers-> Fiqh. The commands and prohibitions chosen by God were revealed through the agency of the Prophet in both the Quran and the Sunnah (words, deeds, and ...
, in Urdu and Hindi. He is the founder and principal of the Jamia Mahmoodia school in
Meerut Meerut (, IAST: ''Meraṭh'') is a city in Meerut district of the western part of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The city lies northeast of the national capital New Delhi, within the National Capital Region and west of the state capital ...
. Other prominent victims included: * : M. Djaâfar—Husband of Algerian Minister for Family and Women Nouara Saâdia * : ** Ahmad Fahima—Senior Iranian diplomat – First Secretary to the Holy See ** Mohammad sadeq akhavan—Deputy Director of the Centre for Dispute Resolution Councils Iran's judiciary ** Mohammad Rahim Aghaeipour—Iranian Diplomat, Ambassador to Slovenia ** Mohsen Haji Hassani Kargar reciter of Qur'an a world winner of International Quran Recital Competition in 2015 ** Hassan Danesh winner of Qur'an reciting competitions in 2012 and 2015. * : Ismail Hamid Zair—Brigadier, Baghdad Crimes Unit * : ** Musa Hassan Alkali—Justice, Nigerian Court of Appeal ** Bello Gidan Hamma—Chairman, Illela Local Government Area ** Abdulkadir Jega—Justice, Nigerian Court of Appeal ** Shehu Kontagora—
Niger State Niger is a state in the North Central region of Nigeria and the largest state in the country. Niger state has three political zones, zone A,B and C. The state's capital is at Minna. Other major cities are Bida, Kontagora and Suleja. It was ...
Accountant General ** Faisal Musa—Member,
Katsina Katsina, likely from "Tamashek" eaning son or bloodor mazza enwith "inna" otheris a Local Government Area and the capital city of Katsina State, in northern Nigeria.
State House of Assembly ** Abbas Ibrahim Sambo—Emir of Zing ** Abdullahi T. Yeldu—Member,
Kebbi Kebbi state ( ha, Jihar Kebbi; Fulfulde: Leydi Kebbi 𞤤𞤫𞤴𞤣𞤭 𞤳𞤫𞤦𞥆𞤭) is a state in the northwestern Nigeria, Kebbi state is bordered east and north of Sokoto and Zamfara states, and to the south by Niger state while i ...
State House of Assembly * : Assad Murtaza Gilani—Former Pakistani Member of Parliament * : ** Gnilane Diouf—Mother of footballer
Mame Biram Diouf Mame Biram Diouf (born 16 December 1987) is a Senegalese professional footballer who plays as a striker for Turkish Süper Lig club Konyaspor. Diouf started his career at Diaraf before moving to Molde in 2007. In his first season with them he ...
** Abdoulaye Diaw—Senegalese National Technical Director, Football * : Talaat Abdel-Razeq—Sudanese Major General, Air Defense Commander


Eyewitness accounts

Early statements by eyewitnesses indicated that the crush was caused by the closure of the eastern part of Street 206, which forced pilgrims to travel on Street 223, colliding with a mass of people moving the opposite direction on Street 204. Alhaji Samaila Dabai Yombe, Deputy Governor of the Nigerian state of
Kebbi Kebbi state ( ha, Jihar Kebbi; Fulfulde: Leydi Kebbi 𞤤𞤫𞤴𞤣𞤭 𞤳𞤫𞤦𞥆𞤭) is a state in the northwestern Nigeria, Kebbi state is bordered east and north of Sokoto and Zamfara states, and to the south by Niger state while i ...
, who was present at the incident, stated that the deaths happened due to a blockage of the route to Jamaraat Bridge. "What actually happened was that all the pilgrims scheduled to throw Jamrat at that time were channeled to one particular street. At a time we got to a certain point around 8:00am, a military vehicle was set across to create a barrier and then some of the Saudi soldiers were standing by, suggesting that you cannot go beyond that point. ..About 5,000 people coming from the same direction were not aware of the road block in front, which resulted to a tight and stationary human traffic, which made it very difficult for us to even stand. So, we continued to squat to make room for fresh air while the temperature was about 47 degrees Celsius. ..Pilgrims, in efforts to get fresh air, attempted to scale fences of tents on both sides of the road. Very few succeeded, while most people just succumb to the situation. It was at this juncture that we saw dead bodies piling up around us". Ishaq Akintola, a Nigerian Professor of Islamic eschatology, gave an eyewitness account of the disaster: "on that fateful day, we found out that some of those who had thrown their own stones made a U-turn instead of moving ahead to take a detour. They came through the route meant for entrance and not exit. They came towards us. They were in a very large group and the road was not spacious enough to allow a free flow of those of us coming to throw stones at the Devil and those who had stoned the Devil. The road could not take those coming and those going. And I discovered that most of those who took the wrong way were Egyptians".


Investigation


Saudi official statements

In a statement released by the Saudi embassy, Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir stated, "The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques has directed to launch a thorough investigation that will be transparent ..We will reveal the facts when they emerge, and we will not hold anything back. If mistakes were made, those who made them will be held accountable, and we will make sure that we will learn from this in order to ensure that it doesn’t happen again." A few weeks after the incident, the Saudi Vice Minister of Health officially announced 4,173 people dead in this incident in a press release, however, this page was removed from the website within three hours and requesting it would redirect the visitor to the homepage. The Saudi Minister of Health claimed that the published death toll was false in a Twitter post.
Fars News The Fars News Agency is a news agency in Iran managed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), an armed wing loyal to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. While it describes itself as "Iran's leading independent news agency", it is widely descri ...
, an official news agency of Iran, provided a walkthrough video to accessing the webpage assuming it was out of reach due to many page requests. Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Nayef supervised the official investigation. Saudi newspapers reported that on 18 October 2015 bin Nayef talked to the investigators and urged them to "continue their efforts to find the causes of the accident, praying to Allah Almighty to accept the martyrs and wishing the injured a speedy recovery". However, Saudi Arabia, , has not yet released any findings by their investigators. Prompted by difficulties in identifying bodies after the Mina disaster, Saudi Arabian Deputy Minister of Health, Hamad Al-Duwailie, announced plans to require all Hajj pilgrims to wear an electronic bracelet containing identity information. Al-Duwailie also said that Saudi Ministry of Health would upgrade its current Hajj and
Umrah The ʿUmrah ( ar, عُمْرَة, lit=to visit a populated place) is an Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca (the holiest city for Muslims, located in the Hejazi region of Saudi Arabia) that can be undertaken at any time of the year, in contrast to t ...
committee a permanent coordinating body within the Ministry. In January 2016, the Saudi Shura Council recommended "raising the capacity of roads leading to the Jamarat facility, and to the accommodation areas in Mina" as well as more studies on Hajj-related transportation flow.


Recommendations by independent experts

Najmedin Meshkati, Professor of Engineering and International Relations at the
University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8.1 ...
, who is an expert in accident investigation, recommended in a self-authored opinion piece in the ''World Post'' that, "the Saudi government should embark on the immediate creation of an independent investigation commission/panel. This interdisciplinary commission/panel should be chaired by a nationally renowned Saudi statesman or scholar, with members selected from Saudi Arabia and affected countries based on their technical expertise and to include responsible governmental entities, first responder agencies, and academics of requisite disciplines for accident investigation. ..And it should be empowered by the subpoena power and charged to conduct a comprehensive, systematic and interdisciplinary investigation by employing the system-oriented, robust 'AcciMap' methodology to write the most technically-sound report on the root-causes of this tragedy". Amer Shalaby is a Professor of Civil Engineering at the
University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 ...
's Transportation Research Institute, former Hajj pilgrim, and consultant to Saudi government on crowd management. Shalaby, who specializes in transportation planning for large-scale events, proposes using "smart phones and other static and dynamic sensors" to provide authorities real-time information that could identify potential trouble places during the Hajj. He also suggests that "some of the effective methods of highway traffic flow management, such as flow metering, could be adapted for streamlining crowd flows in Mecca". Keith Still, Professor of Crowd Science at
Manchester Metropolitan University Manchester Metropolitan University is located in the centre of Manchester, England. The university has over 40,000 students and over 4,000 members of staff. It is home to four faculties (Arts and Humanities, Business and Law, Health and Educat ...
in Britain, who helped redesign the Jamaraat (the pillars representing the devil stoned by pilgrims) after a disaster in 2004, said there was criticism at the time that the upgrades at the Jamaraat had not been extended to other areas. He said "For complex systems that flow in and out, if you make one change along the way it can have knock-on and ripple effects elsewhere. Change any one part of system with 3 million people, and there's a danger of an accident like this." Mohammed Ajmal, a physician specializing in Emergency Medicine and former manager of a medical center established to treat Indian Hajj pilgrims, details issues with both the design of the Mina tent city and quick access to disaster medical care at the site. Ajmal discussed structural design flaws in Mina, calling it a "badly designed death trap—in times of disaster" as it attempts to funnel tens of thousands of people through T intersections, such as the junction of Streets 204 and 223 where the crush occurred. Compression asphyxia is the cause of death for most victims of a crowd collapse, and can occur within ten minutes; Ajmal notes that Mina's design prevents medical care from arriving within that time stating that people at crush sites are "destined to die" within minutes, before any medical help can reach the site.


Reactions


Governments

After the Mina disaster, many of the world's politicians sent messages of sympathy and consolation, including German Chancellor
Angela Merkel Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; born 17 July 1954) is a German former politician and scientist who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. A member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), she previously served as Leader of the Opp ...
, Qatari Prime Minister
Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani ( ar, عبد الله بن ناصر بن خليفة آل ثاني; born 1960) is a Qatari politician, who served as the Prime Minister of Qatar from 26 June 2013 until his resignation on 28 Januar ...
,
King King is the title given to a male monarch in a variety of contexts. The female equivalent is queen, which title is also given to the consort of a king. *In the context of prehistory, antiquity and contemporary indigenous peoples, the tit ...
Mohammed VI of Morocco Mohammed VI ( ar, محمد السادس; born 21 August 1963) is the King of Morocco. He belongs to the 'Alawi dynasty and acceded to the throne on 23 July 1999, upon the death of his father, King Hassan II. Upon ascending to the throne, Moh ...
, Kuwaiti Emir Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Pakistani President
Mamnoon Hussain Mamnoon Hussain ( ur, ; 22 December 1941 – 14 July 2021) was a Pakistani politician and industrialist who served as the 12th president of Pakistan from 2013 to 2018. He was first appointed Governor of Sindh in June 1999 by President Rafiq ...
, and Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi. :*Minister of Religious Affairs and Endowments, Mohamed Aissa, said "We do not doubt the reliability of the security system set up by the Saudi government. We do not deny, either, that the Saudi kingdom is the sole organizer of the Hajj, for several years. However, we will require that the whole matter be clarified and that those responsible for this disaster are known and sanctioned. We will demand compensation for the families of the deceased and for the injured". :*Religious Affairs Secretary Chowdhury Md Babul Hassan criticized the Saudi government for its "disrespectful handling" of the bodies after 24 September incident at Mina. "The way the Saudi security officials removed the bodies from the site seemed as if they were dumping garbage. The stampede has laid bare the Saudi authorities' mismanagements," he said. :* Indian President
Pranab Mukherjee Dr. Pranab Mukherjee (11 December 193531 August 2020) was an Indian politician and statesman who served as the 13th president of India from 2012 until 2017. In a political career spanning five decades, Mukherjee was a senior leader in the India ...
stated via
Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
that he was "deeply saddened by tragic incident at Mina Thursday, during which a large number of hajj pilgrims lost their lives" and that he offered "my sincere condolences to government of Saudi Arabia and families of the deceased pilgrims. I also wish speedy recovery to injured". :*
Indian Prime Minister The prime minister of India (IAST: ) is the head of government of the Republic of India. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and their chosen Council of Ministers, despite the president of India being the nominal head of the ...
Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (; born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician serving as the 14th and current Prime Minister of India since 2014. Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Parliament fro ...
, also on Twitter, said, "Distressing news from Mecca. Pained at loss of lives due to the stampede. Condolences to families of the deceased and prayers with the injured." :*Indonesian officials criticized Saudi Arabia's response to the disaster, saying authorities in the kingdom prevented their diplomats from seeing initial data and blocked their immediate access to the dead. :*Indonesia officially offered assistance to help Saudi Arabia in identifying bodies of hundreds of hajj pilgrims killed in Thursday's stampede during the conduction of a hajj procession in Mina, a statement released by Indonesian Foreign Affairs Ministry. :* Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, declared three days of national mourning in Iran. "The Saudi government is obligated to shoulder its heavy responsibility in this bitter incident and meet its obligations in compliance with the rule of righteousness and fairness. Mismanagement and improper measures that were behind this tragedy should not be overlooked," Khamenei said. He threatened Saudi Arabia with a "tough and harsh" response after complaining that "the bodies of Hajj stampede victims are not being repatriated swiftly". Ali Khamenei also demanded of all Islamic countries to challenge the management of Mecca and Medina. :* Hassan Rouhani, the President of Iran, in his address to the seventieth UN General Assembly said the feelings of millions of Muslims being hurt by the incident amounts to spiritual loss which cannot be compensated for simply by material means. "The public opinion demands that Saudi authorities discharge, without delay, their international responsibility in providing immediate consular access for the quick identification and returning of the bodies f the deceased" said the Iranian president. He further added that "It is also required that the necessary conditions be provided for onductingan independent and precise inquiry into the causes of the inadisaster and orking outmethods for preventing a repeat of that in the future." :*The
Iranian Foreign Ministry The Ministry of Foreign Affairs ( fa, وزارت امور خارجه, Vezārat-e Omūr-e Khārejeh) is an Iranian government ministry headed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Iran), Minister of Foreign Affairs, who is a member of cabinet. The ...
summoned Saudi Arabia’s chargé d'affaires, and dispatched a high-ranking delegation from the Foreign Ministry and the Iranian Red Crescent, headed by Hassan Ghashghavi, to investigate the situation. Hossein Amirabdollahian, Deputy of Foreign Affairs Minister, accused Saudi officials of tactlessness over the lack of safety measures at the Hajj and said "We can in no way be indifferent to this irresponsible behaviour of Saudi Arabia. This will be dealt with through diplomatic channels." :*The director of Iran's Hajj organisation, Said Ohadi, accused Saudi Arabia of safety errors that caused the accident saying that "Today's incident shows mismanagement and lack of serious attention to the safety of pilgrims. There is no other explanation. The Saudi officials should be held accountable." :*Khamenei’s representative on Hajj affairs, Seyed Ali Ghaziaskar, said: "Saudi officials do not let our medical team and doctors to reach the affected areas and hospitals to help." :*Thousands of people marched in
Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...
to protest at Saudi Arabia's management of the hajj pilgrimage. The Iranian demonstrators carried black flags representing the deceased and chanted "death to Al Saud" (), the ruling royal family of Saudi Arabia. :*
Tammam Salam Tammam Saeb Salam ( ar, تمّام صائب سلام, ; born 13 May 1945) is a Lebanese politician who was the Prime Minister of Lebanon from February 2014 until December 2016. He also served as the acting President of Lebanon from May 2014 unti ...
,
Prime Minister of Lebanon The Prime Minister of Lebanon, officially the President of the Council of Ministers, is the head of government and the head of the Council of Ministers of Lebanon. The Prime Minister is appointed by the president of Lebanon, with the consent ...
, offered his condolences, stating that he "shared the sorrow with the Iranian nation and officials of the Islamic Republic". :* Hassan Nasrallah, the Secretary General of Hezbollah said that the Saudi regime has the sole responsibility for the Mina incident as it was the sole manager of the pilgrimage and it has always refused to share this responsibility with anyone else. He stressed that blaming the pilgrims for this tragedy was a simplification of things, and that the consequent accidents in the pilgrimage that occur every year indicate that there is a major problem in Saudi’s management. He further said Saudi Arabia should allow Muslim countries to help the kingdom run the Hajj pilgrimage rituals, emphasising the need for the formation of a Muslim committee to "supervise the management" of the annual Islamic event. He also added that a group of Muslim countries should be formed to investigate the fatal stampede during Hajj rites. :*The Nigerian government has dismissed remarks by the Saudi health minister blaming pilgrims for "not following instructions." :*Abdullahi Mukhtar, the Chairman of National Hajj Commission of Nigeria said, "It was not fair for anyone to blame Africans participating at the pilgrimage for the fatal incident" and called on the Saudi authority to include Nigeria in a government investigation into the incident. :*Nigeria's
Emir of Kano Emir (; ar, أمير ' ), sometimes transliterated amir, amier, or ameer, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or cerem ...
, Alhaji Muhammad Sanusi II said he would advise Nigerians not to participate in the Stoning of the Devil unless they are assigned quarters close to the Jamarāt pillars. Citing Qur'anic verses and teachings of Muhammad, Sanusi stated that omitting the Stoning of the Devil rite does not lessen the validty of the Hajj pilgrimage. Further explaining his reasoning, Sanusi said, "During the era of Prophet Muhammad, he permitted pilgrims who came on camels to stay in Makkah after Arafat, instead of staying in Mina and sleeping at Muzdalifa. So, if the Prophet can give such grace to some people, just to protect their animals, why didn’t our scholars educate our people properly to avoid this untoward hardship and death" and that "If one deliberately refuses to even perform the stoning of the devil ritual, all he needs to do is just to slaughter a ram in order to make up for the loss. So, if this is the situation, why do we go and suffer and die instead of sacrificing a ram?" :*Members of the Nigerian House of Representatives condemned the stampede in Mecca during which several lives were lost. The House also demanded the immediate take-over of the investigation of the incident by international investigators since there were still conflicting reports as to the cause of the incident. It stated that this was necessary in order to prevent future occurrences. During the tragedy, 54 Nigerians lost their lives. One member of the House, Honourable Igbokwue, stated that if nothing definite was done to establish the cause of the stampede, it would definitely happen again. :*The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, urged Saudi authorities to provide henceforth improved safety measures during the annual pilgrimage to Mecca. :* Sani Yahaya Jingir, chairman of Nigeria's National Ulama'u Council, requested the Nigerian government work with Saudi Arabia to investigate the cause of the incident, and to take action to prevent similar future crowd collapses. :*''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' reported that, amid public criticism of the Saudi and Pakistani governments for weaknesses in the official response to the tragedy, the Pakistani government has directed private television networks to "avoid criticizing the Saudis in news programs and talk shows." Pakistani lawmaker Tariq Fazal Chaudhry has defended his government's policy, saying the directive was meant to prevent broadcasts from "giving the tragedy a sectarian color." :*The Pakistani opposition walked out of the Senate in protest of the government’s attitude towards the stampede. Senator
Aitzaz Ahsan Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan ( ur, ; born 27 September 1945) is a Pakistani politician and lawyer. He served two times as the Leader of the House in the Senate of Pakistan from 1994 to 1997 and again from 2012 to 2015. He also served as the Leader o ...
said that the ruling Pakistan Muslim League (N) party "is trying to forget the issue by suppressing it", and that the government "left Pakistani pilgrims alone in tough times and is trying to cover the situation though Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA)". The Deputy Chairman said that the country should wait for an investigative report from Saudi Arabia, and that "there must not be any politics" concerning the stampede. :*During a one-on-one meeting at the UN General Assembly,
Russian President The president of the Russian Federation ( rus, Президент Российской Федерации, Prezident Rossiyskoy Federatsii) is the head of state of the Russian Federation. The president leads the executive branch of the federal ...
Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...
personally expressed his condolences to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and to the families of Iran's deceased Hajj pilgrims. Putin had earlier sent condolences to Saudi King Salman expressing his "compassion to the families and relatives of the dead and wished an early recovery to the injured". :*Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir has accused Iran of "playing politics" with the disaster and stated the Islamic Republic should await the outcome of an investigation ordered by Saudi Arabia's King Salman. :*The governor of the
Makkah Region The Mecca Province ( ar, مِنْطَقَة مَكَّة '), also known as the Mecca Region, is one of the 13 provinces of Saudi Arabia. It is the third-largest province by area at and the most populous with a population of 8,557,766 as of 2017 ...
and director of the Central Hajj Committee Prince Khaled al-Faisal blamed the stampede on "some pilgrims from African nationalities". Saudi officials have also blamed pilgrims for the stampede, suggesting some had "moved without following instructions by the relevant authorities". The Saudi health minister Khalid A. Al-Falih stated that the stampede occurred due to pilgrims failing to obey official directions, adding that timetables established by authorities were ignored. However, witnesses dispute this, according to ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
''. :*
King Salman Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud ( ar, سلمان بن عبد العزیز آل سعود, , ; born 31 December 1935) is King of Saudi Arabia, reigning since 2015, and served as Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia from 2015 to 2022. The 25th son of Kin ...
dismissed three high-level officials from their posts after the stampede. :*Saudi Arabia Mufti Abdul-Aziz ibn Abdullah Al ash-Sheikh called the Iranian people and government "non-Muslims and enemies of Islam". He made these comments after Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that "the Muslim world should challenge Saudi management" of the sites of Mecca and Medina. :*In steering committee, the
Senegalese Democratic Party The Senegalese Democratic Party (french: Parti démocratique sénégalais) is a political party in Senegal. The party considers itself a liberal party and is a member of the Liberal International. Abdoulaye Wade, who was President of Senegal fro ...
(PDS) demanded the resignation of the government of Dionne Muhammad Abdallah Boun. Liberals believed that the state authorities have not been competent with the "management" of Mina stampede. :*State-controlled news agency Syrian Arab News Agency stated that the stampede "raised questions about the Saudi government’s attention to pilgrims' safety despite billions of dollars that Saudi authorities claim to spend to improve Hajj." :* Mehmet Görmez, the directed of
Presidency of Religious Affairs The Directorate of Religious Affairs in Turkey ( tr, Diyanet İşleri Başkanlığı, normally referred to simply as the Diyanet) is an official state institution established in 1924 by the orders of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk under article 136 of t ...
blamed serious management issues at Mecca, saying, "There was serious negligence by authorities in directing the crowd". :*Though AKP Deputy Chair Mehmet Ali Şahin also criticised the Saudi organisation, Turkey's President, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan defended the Saudi government saying, "I do not sympathise with the hostile statements against Saudi Arabia." He asserted, "It is not right to have the approach of putting the blame on Saudi Arabia. On the contrary, during the Hajj and Umrah I participated in, I came to observe closely the level of sensibility in the organization work conducted there. Therefore I cannot say 'the organization is wrong'". :*
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...
David Cameron tweeted that his "thoughts and prayers are with the families of those killed at the Hajj pilgrimage." :*UK opposition Labour Leader
Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party from 2015 to 2020. On the political left of the Labour Party, Corbyn describes himself as a socialist ...
stated that he was "shocked and saddened to hear of today's events in Saudi Arabia. My thoughts are with the friends and families of all those affected as well as Muslims in Britain and around the world." :*
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...
Secretary-General Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived ...
Ban Ki-moon stated that he "was deeply saddened to learn of the death of more than 700 Hajj pilgrims and of injuries to many others as a result of a deadly incident in the Mina Valley in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia". :* Ned Price, spokesman for the
United States National Security Council The United States National Security Council (NSC) is the principal forum used by the President of the United States for consideration of national security, military, and foreign policy matters. Based in the White House, it is part of the Exe ...
, speaking on behalf of the Obama administration, said "the United States expresses its deepest condolences to the families of the hundreds of Hajj pilgrims killed and hundreds more injured in the heartbreaking stampede in Mina, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. As Muslims around the world continue to celebrate Eid al-Adha, we join you in mourning the tragic loss of these faithful pilgrims." :*
Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...
, of the
Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
, expressed his "sentiments of closeness in the face of the tragedy that their people suffered today in Mecca."


Non-governmental

*
Grand Mufti The Grand Mufti (also called Chief Mufti, State Mufti and Supreme Mufti) is the head of regional muftis, Islamic jurisconsults, of a state. The office originated in the early modern era in the Ottoman empire and has been later adopted in a num ...
Sheikh
Abdul-Aziz ibn Abdullah Al ash-Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Abdullah Al-Sheikh ( ar, عبد العزيز بن عبد الله آل الشيخ ''ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn ʿAbd Āllah Āl ash-Sheikh''; born 30 November 1940) is a Saudi Arabian Islamic scholar who is the current Grand Mufti of Sau ...
, Saudi Arabia's chief religious leader (appointed to his position by
King Fahd Fahd bin Abdulaziz Al Saud ( ar, فهد بن عبد العزيز آل سعود ''Fahd ibn ʿAbd al ʿAzīz Āl Suʿūd'', ; 1920, 1921 or 1923 – 1 August 2005) was a Saudi Arabian politician who was King and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia fro ...
in 1999), told Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince and Minister of the Interior, Muhammad bin Nayef, "You are not responsible for what happened. As for the things that humans cannot control, you are not blamed for them. Fate and destiny are inevitable". * Irfan al-Alawi, the executive director of the Islamic Heritage Research Foundation, said that "the disaster was a result of poor management by the government, given the number of past disasters." * Madawi al-Rasheed, a Saudi-Arabian anthropologist and visiting professor at the London School of Economics, said: "There is no accountability. It's shocking that almost every year there is some kind of death toll. The renovation and expansion are done under the pretext of creating more space for Muslim pilgrims, but it masks land grabs and vast amounts of money being made by the princes and by other Saudis. Officials in the kingdom had avoided responsibility in part by citing the Islamic doctrine that anyone who dies during the pilgrimage goes to heaven." * Ali al-Ahmed, a Saudi analyst and current director of the Washington, DC-based Institute for Gulf Affairs
think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmenta ...
blamed the Saudi government's "mismanagement" of the Hajj, saying that "the Ministry of Interior's use of soldiers who have no clue or expertise in managing crowds was the real cause of stampedes. This really has to do with the failure of the Saudi government in organizing this Hajj, and they need to get help from around the world." * Yasmin Alibhai-Brown, a Ugandan British author and journalist, seized upon the incident to criticize Saudi Arabia for its human rights violations and funding violent
Wahhabism Wahhabism ( ar, ٱلْوَهَّابِيَةُ, translit=al-Wahhābiyyah) is a Sunni Islamic revivalist and fundamentalist movement associated with the reformist doctrines of the 18th-century Arabian Islamic scholar, theologian, preacher, and ...
in the world. She criticized the Saudi government for blaming the victims in the incident and added "Mecca was once a place of simplicity and spirituality. Today the avaricious Saudis have bulldozed historical sites and turned it into the Las Vegas of Islam – with hotels, skyscrapers and malls to spend, spend, spend. The poor can no longer afford to go there. Numbers should be controlled to ensure safety – but that would be ruinous for profits." She also added that Western leaders are not willing to confront Saudi Arabia because of oil and profits made by arm sales. * Abbass Schumann, the Undersecretary of
Al-Azhar Al-Azhar Mosque ( ar, الجامع الأزهر, al-Jāmiʿ al-ʾAzhar, lit=The Resplendent Congregational Mosque, arz, جامع الأزهر, Gāmiʿ el-ʾazhar), known in Egypt simply as al-Azhar, is a mosque in Cairo, Egypt in the historic ...
, Egypt, said that allegations of negligence concerning Saudi's administration and managing of the hajj are "unacceptable". Schumann called for patience pending the conclusion of the investigation by Saudi Arabia, and cautioned against rushing to judgment. * Egyptian physician and feminist writer
Nawal El Saadawi Nawal El Saadawi ( ar, نوال السعداوي, , 22 October 1931 – 21 March 2021) was an Egyptian feminist writer, activist and physician. She wrote many books on the subject of women in Islam, paying particular attention to the practice of ...
said "They talk about changing the way he hajjis administered, about making people travel in smaller groups. What they don't say is that the crush happened because these people were fighting to stone the devil. Why do they need to stone the devil? Why do they need to kiss that black stone? But no one will say this. The media will not print it. What is it about, this reluctance to criticise religion? ... This refusal to criticise religion ... is not liberalism. This is censorship". *
Vijay Prashad Vijay Prashad is an Indian Marxist historian and commentator. He is an executive-director of Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research, the Chief Editor of LeftWord Books, and a senior non-resident fellow at Chongyang Institute for Financ ...
, Northampton-based journalist and historian, said that survivors told journalists that Saudi's response to the tragedy was "too little, too late," stressing that Saudi rescuers arrived almost two hours after the incident. ... much of Mecca, like Saudi Arabia in general, is designed for the VIP and the VVIP. Embarrassingly, Riyadh provides little if any care to ordinary people and it is not the first time that Saudi Arabia has demonstrated disdain for the lives of Muslims. Instead of pouring money into the war, Riyadh should use its wealth to make the Hajj safe not only for the VIPs, but for millions of ordinary Muslims. * Citing the rumors about the block, Basma Attasi, a reporter from
Al Jazeera Al Jazeera ( ar, الجزيرة, translit-std=DIN, translit=al-jazīrah, , "The Island") is a state-owned Arabic-language international radio and TV broadcaster of Qatar. It is based in Doha and operated by the media conglomerate Al Jazeera ...
who was present in the ritual, explained, "For those who know the area where the stampede occurred, this report seems far from reality. The relatively humble area is far from the entrance to Mina and houses ordinary pilgrims arriving from outside of Saudi Arabia. Important personalities stay in areas close to the entrance and their convoys are assigned separate tunnels and roads to facilitate their movement." *
Moussa Mara Moussa Mara (born 2 March 1975 in Bamako) is a Malian politician who was Prime Minister of Mali from 2014 to 2015. Previously he served in the government as Minister of Town Planning, and he was an unsuccessful candidate in the 2013 presidential ...
, former Premier of Mali, said that "the Divine Will must be evoked after objective analysis, not before. Otherwise no corrective action will be taken and, one day, the same causes will produce the same effects" and called for a thorough investigation and analysis of the Mina crush so as to reduce or eliminate the possibility of such disasters happening again in the future. *
Toby Craig Jones Toby is a popular, usually male, name in many English-speaking world, English speaking countries. The name is from the Middle English vernacular form of Tobias. Tobias itself is the Greek transliteration of the Hebrew טוביה ''Toviah'', whic ...
, professor of Middle Eastern history at
Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was ...
told ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' that he was "not surprised at the Saudi reluctance to give information on what could be a catastrophic case of negligence". Jones stated that the Saudis "want to say it's a technical problem, that order broke down because the victims were unruly. But what if the opposite were true – that the Saudis haven't created a safe environment for the hajj? For the Saudis to be open and honest about what happened would require them to admit it's not a technical problem at all."


Unconfirmed reports


Saudi royal convoy

Lebanon-based Arabic-language daily ''
Ad-Diyar ''Ad-Diyar'' ( ar, الديار, lit=The Home) is an Arabic-language daily newspaper published in Beirut, Lebanon, which has been in circulation since 1941. History ''Ad Diyar'' was first published in 1941 as an Arabic political daily that is pu ...
'' reported that a convoy escorting Mohammad bin Salman Al Saud, Deputy Crown Prince and Saudi Minister of Defense, composed of 200 soldiers and 150 police officers initiated the disaster by blocking a street forcing pilgrims to turn around against the flow of traffic. The paper also alleged that the deputy crown prince and entourage swiftly left the scene, and that the Saudi authorities sought to impose a media blackout on reporting the Prince's presence in the area. Iranian media reported the ''Ad-Diyar'' story, and Iranian Hajj officials stated that two streets near the disaster point had been sealed for "unknown reasons", while the Iranian Fars News Agency, quoted a member of the Iraqi parliament, Hassan Salem, as saying "the Mina disaster was an engineered tragedy to kidnap the Iraqi and Iranian officials on the pretext of the Mina incident." A reporter with the BBC's Hausa Service, Yusuf Ibrahim Yakasai, confirmed that at least one road leading to the Jamaraat was blocked. Saudi officials denied the reports, stating diplomatic convoys take place in the south of Mina and in tunnels, while the incident took place in the north.


Beheadings of responsible officials

The Saudi government was reported to have beheaded 28 people found responsible for the disaster.


Killing of the injured

Iran's
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Sayyid Ali Hosseini Khamenei ( fa, سید علی حسینی خامنه‌ای, ; born 19 April 1939) is a Twelver Shia '' marja and the second and current Supreme Leader of Iran, in office since 1989. He was previously the third president ...
accused the Saudis of killing injured pilgrims by putting them in containers along with the dead.


Aftermath

The 2015 Mina Crush disaster has increased tensions in the already-strained relationship between Saudi Arabia and Iran, led to calls from politicians in a number of Muslim nations for changes in oversight of Mecca and the Hajj, and bolstered opposition to King Salman among the senior members of the Saudi Arabian royal family.


Criticism of Saudi control of Hajj

Politicians and religious leaders in a number of Muslim countries have cited the 2015 Mina Crush disaster as reason for control of the Hajj be given either to a different nation or to a pan-Islamic organization. Mehmet Ali Sahin Deputy Chair of Turkey's Justice and Development Party (AKP) criticised the Saudi organisation, and claimed that Turkey could do a better job than Saudi Arabia at organising the Hajj pilgrimage, calling for Turkey to be entrusted with its management.
Nouri al-Maliki Nouri Kamil Muhammad-Hasan al-Maliki ( ar, نوري المالكي; born 20 June 1950), also known as Jawad al-Maliki (), is secretary-general of the Islamic Dawa Party and was the prime minister of Iraq from 2006 to 2014 and the vice president ...
, former Prime Minister of
Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...
, proposed that the
Organisation of Islamic Cooperation An organization or organisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is an entity—such as a company, an institution, or an association—comprising one or more people and having a particular purpose. The word is derived from ...
(OIC) should take over administration of the Hajj. Mohammad Emami Kashani, an Iranian Ayatollah, also demanded transfer of the control of the Hajj to the OIC, stating "Saudi Arabia is incapable of organising the pilgrimage. The running of the Hajj must be handed over to Islamic states." Hassan Nasrallah, Secretary General of Hezbollah stated that Saudi Arabia should allow Muslim countries to help the kingdom run the Hajj pilgrimage rituals, emphasising the need for the formation of a Muslim committee to "supervise the management" of the annual Islamic event. The Saudi government rejected such calls; Saudi Prince
Turki al-Faisal Turki bin Faisal Al Saud ( ar, تركي بن فيصل آل سعود, Turkī ibn Fayṣal Āl Su‘ūd; tr, Türki bin Faysal Al Suud) (born 15 February 1945), known also as Turki Al Faisal, is a Saudi prince and former government official who se ...
stated Saudi control over the Hajj was "a matter of sovereignty and privilege and service". In 2016,
supreme leader of Iran The Supreme Leader of Iran ( fa, رهبر ایران, rahbar-e irān) is the head of state of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Supreme Leader directs the executive system and judicial system of the Islamic theocratic government and is the co ...
,
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Sayyid Ali Hosseini Khamenei ( fa, سید علی حسینی خامنه‌ای, ; born 19 April 1939) is a Twelver Shia '' marja and the second and current Supreme Leader of Iran, in office since 1989. He was previously the third president ...
sent a global message via his website severely criticizing Saudi rulers for what he called "the crimes they have caused throughout the world of Islam," and asked they be held responsible. In his message Khamenei described the nature of Saudi rulers as "blasphemous, faithless, dependent and materialistic," and asked "the world of Islam" to know them. He demanded reconsidering the management of two holy places and the issue of hajj due to what he described as "Saudi rulers' oppressive behavior towards God's guests," referring to 2015 Mina disaster. "Otherwise Muslims would face biggest problems," he warned. "The hesitation and failure to rescue the half-dead and injured people... is also obvious and incontrovertible. ... They murdered them," he said.


Increased Saudi–Iranian tensions

Government and religious leaders of Iran—which lost at least 464 citizens in the Mina disaster—have been harshly critical of Saudi Arabia. Saudi leaders have in turn have claimed that Iran is attempting to take advantage of a tragedy for political purposes. Soon after the Mina Crush, both Iran's Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, and Iranian President, Hassan Rouhani, had harsh words for the Saudi government and blamed Saudi Arabia for the disaster. Rouhani suggested that the Mina crush could be the result of the Saudi government moving their best troops to Yemen, and leaving Hajj crowd control to less experienced soldiers. While
Ebrahim Raisi Sayyid Ebrahim Raisolsadati ( fa, سید ابراهیم رئیس‌الساداتی; born 14 December 1960), commonly known as Ebrahim Raisi ( fa, ابراهیم رئیسی ), is an Iranian principlist politician, Muslim jurist, and the eight ...
, Iran's then State Prosecutor claimed the disaster had been caused by the Saudi officials blocking a road so as to clear a path for a Saudi convoy, and that the House of Saud should be held responsible by international law. Iranian legal experts later decided that Iran could not bring such a case before the
International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice (ICJ; french: Cour internationale de justice, links=no; ), sometimes known as the World Court, is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN). It settles disputes between states in accordanc ...
or the
International Criminal Court The International Criminal Court (ICC or ICCt) is an intergovernmental organization and international tribunal seated in The Hague, Netherlands. It is the first and only permanent international court with jurisdiction to prosecute individuals f ...
due to jurisdictional issues. Iranian officials also accused Saudi Arabia with kidnapping Iranian diplomat, Ghazanfar Roknabadi, who became missing during the Hajj, until his body was finally identified on 25 November 2015. On 24 November 2015, Iran announced that it was forming its own fact-finding committee to investigate the disaster. Iran claims that the death toll of the disaster greatly exceeds what has been reported, and that between 4,700 and 7,500 pilgrims actually died. On 4 January 2016, Iranian government spokesman Mohammad Bagher Nobakht stated that Iran would be suspending participation by its nationals in the
Umrah The ʿUmrah ( ar, عُمْرَة, lit=to visit a populated place) is an Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca (the holiest city for Muslims, located in the Hejazi region of Saudi Arabia) that can be undertaken at any time of the year, in contrast to t ...
pilgrimage to Mecca, as "conditions of safety will not be guaranteed to pilgrims". Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir has urged Iran to wait for the results of the official Saudi investigation, stating that the Saudi government, "will reveal the facts when they emerge. And we will not hold anything back. If mistakes were made, who made them will be held accountable." Saudi government officials have made few official comments addressing specific Iranian allegations, while attempting to de-escaltate tensions with Iran. However, Mohammed bin Nawaf bin Abdulaziz, Saudi Ambassador to the UK, did specifically deny what he called "unfounded allegations", including accusations that a road blockage by a Saudi royal convoy caused the disaster. Additionally, an anonymous Saudi official involved with management of the Hajj suggested to a reporter for Al-Monitor that Mina disaster might be the result of Iranian sabotage, and that the Iranian Hajj Mission was being investigated. Amid deteriorating diplomatic relations and after months of negotiations concerning visa requirements and safety logistics, in May 2016 Iran suspended participation with the upcoming Hajj scheduled for September 2016. Iran previously suspended participation with the Hajj of 1988 and 1989, after 400 Iranian pilgrims were killed by Saudi security forces.


Opposition to Saudi King Salman

The Mina disaster increased and emboldened opposition to Saudi King Salman. ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' reported after the disaster that a "senior Saudi prince has launched an unprecedented call for change in the country's leadership" writing two letters calling for his replacement. The prince was quoted by the ''Guardian'' as saying "The public are also pushing this very hard, all kinds of people, tribal leaders ..They say you have to do this or the country will go to disaster." According to reports, favored to replace Salman is his younger brother, Prince Ahmed bin Abdulaziz, another son of Saudi Arabia's founding king Ibn Saud, and former Interior Minister. The likelihood of such a coup, at least in the short term, and the authenticity of the prince's letter, have both been questioned. However, structural economic problems, the Yemen War, and discord in the royal family all contribute to the real possibility of instability for Saudi Arabia. But as the holder of the royal title "Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques", King Salman has been embarrassed by the twin disasters that bracketed the 2015 Hajj season—the Mecca crane collapse and the Mina Crush.


Description as "stampede"

Some academics who study crowd movements and crushing disasters have questioned the use of the term "stampede". "The rhetoric of 'stampede' is often used to imply that the crowd is animalistic or mindless, but from a crowd psychology point of view, I'm sure that there was a logical explanation for the crush",
University of Sussex , mottoeng = Be Still and Know , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £14.4 million (2020) , budget = £319.6 million (2019–20) , chancellor = Sanjeev Bhaskar , vice_chancellor = Sasha Roseneil , ...
crowd behavioral expert Anne Templeton told ''Newsweek''. "The density of the Hajj has been shown to reach up to 6–8 people per square meter, so I would be very surprised if a stampede (implying people running mindlessly) could occur in the first place". They argue that the Mina disaster is better described as a "progressive crowd collapse": beginning at densities of about six to seven persons per square meter, individuals are pressed so closely against each other they are unable to move as individuals, and shockwaves can travel through a crowd which, at such densities, behaves somewhat like a fluid. If a single person falls, or other people reach down to help, waves of bodies can be involuntarily precipitated forward into the open space. One such shockwave can create other openings in the crowd nearby, precipitating further crushing. Unable to draw breath, people in a crowd can also be crushed while standing. Use of the word "stampede", says Edwin Galea of the
University of Greenwich , mottoeng = "To learn, to do, to achieve" , former_name = Woolwich Polytechnic(1890–1970)Thames Polytechnic(1970–1992) , established = , type = Public university , budget = £214.9 million (2020) , administrative_staff = , chancel ...
, is the result of "pure ignorance and laziness … it gives the impression that it was a mindless crowd only caring about themselves, and they were prepared to crush people." In reality, "people are only directly crushed by others who have no choice, and the people who can choose ... are too far away from the epicentre" to be aware of what is happening. According to experts, true "stampedes" (and "panics") rarely occur except when a crowd is fleeing in fear, such as from a fire, and rarely does trampling by other human beings in such "stampede" conditions result in fatal injuries. "If you look at the analysis, I’ve not seen any instances of the cause of mass fatalities being a stampede," says Keith Still, professor of crowd science at Manchester Metropolitan University. "People don't die because they panic. They panic because they are dying."


See also

* 2015 Mecca crane collapse *
1987 Mecca incident The 1987 Mecca incident was a clash between Shia pilgrim demonstrators and the Saudi Arabian security forces, during the Hajj pilgrimage; it occurred in Mecca on 31 July 1987 and resulted in the deaths of more than 400 people. The event has bee ...
* Incidents during the Hajj * List of fatal crowd crushes


Notes


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External links


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– Press TV documentary * {{Iran–Saudi Arabia proxy conflict 2015 in Islam 2015 in Saudi Arabia September 2015 events in Asia 21st century in Mecca Disasters in religious buildings and structures Accidental deaths in Saudi Arabia Human stampedes in 2015 Human stampedes in Saudi Arabia Incidents during the Hajj Iran–Saudi Arabia relations 2015 disasters in Saudi Arabia