Three Indians among 14 killed
in Hajj stampede

Three Indians, including two women from Andhra Pradesh, were among fourteen Hajj pilgrims trampled to death on Tuesday in a stampede during the 'stoning of the devil' ritual in Mina in Saudi Arabia.

Though the Indian Embassy said two women from Andhra Pradesh --- Sarvat Fatima and Chand Bi --- were killed, the official Saudi News Agency said three Indians had died in the stampede.

Sources in the embassy gave their passport number as 27428 and 27429 respectively. The agency, Saudi Press Agency, said besides three Indians, four Pakistanis, two Egyptians, an Iranian and a Yemeni were also killed in the incident. The rest are yet to be identified.

The number of people injured was not released, but the agency said two of those who received moderate injuries were in the hospital.

The stampede took place at 1030 am local time [1300 IST] as pilgrims returning to their camps after the stoning met pilgrims on their way for the ritual. Some pilgrims fell and were crushed to death, the agency, quoting Hajj security director Brigadier Abdel Aziz bin Mohammed bin Said, said.

During the 'Stoning of Satan', pilgrims hurl seven stones every day for three days at each of the three 18-metre high concrete pillars that symbolise 'Satan'.

The pillars stand only 155 metres apart and are mobbed by more than two million pilgrims trying to get close, amid beefed-up security measures put in place in an effort to avoid stampedes.

The three-day stoning ritual, marking the first day of Eid-ul-Adha and the last stage of the annual pilgrimage has been witnessing stampedes over the past few years.

Last year's pilgrimage passed off without major incidents, but 35 pilgrims died in a stampede the previous year.

In 2001, 35 people died in a stampede during the stoning ritual, in 1998, 180 died performing the same ritual, while a similar stampede in 1994 claimed 270 lives.

Syed Amin Jafri from Hyderabad adds:

Andhra Pradesh State Hajj Committee officials said that Chand Bi, 68, and her daughter-in-law Sarvat Fatima, 45, were part of a five-member group belonging to a family from the city. Chand Bi's son and Sarvat's husband Noor Mohammed are safe.

Chand Bi's other son, Akbar, said the family received the information about the mishap within hours. The deceased have been buried at Jannat-ul-Mala after the Maghrib prayers.

"It is Allah's will. They have died at the most sacred place," Akbar said, recalling the belief among Muslims that death at the holy place during Hajj takes one to the paradise.

State Hajj Committee assistant secretary Syed Vilayat Hussain said all the other pilgrims were safe and they had returned to Mecca. As many as 4,879 pilgrims from the state, both men and women, had gone for Hajj this year through state Hajj Committee, he explained.