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Hundreds Dead In Saudi Arabia After Stampede During Hajj

Steve Guest Media Reporter
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At least 717 Muslim pilgrims were killed Thursday in a stampede in Mina, a few miles outside of Mecca, Saudi Arabia.

According to Saudi civil defense officials, at least 805 other people were injured when two large groups of pilgrims were on their way to go perform the “stoning the devil” ritual at Jamarat, Saudi Arabia.

This is the worst death toll during the Hajj since July 1990, when 1,426 pilgrims were crushed to death in a tunnel near Mecca. Thursday was Eid al-Adha (Feast of the Sacrifice), which is Islam’s most important feast.

Khaled al-Falih, Saudi Arabia’s health minister, blamed undisciplined pilgrims for the incident, suggesting the stampede would not have occurred if the pilgrims “had followed instructions.”

Hajj pilgrims and Saudi emergency personnel carry a woman on a stretcher at the site where at least 450 were killed and hundreds wounded in a stampede in Mina, near the holy city of Mecca, at the annual hajj in Saudi Arabia on September 24, 2015. The stampede, the second deadly accident to strike the pilgrims this year, broke out during the symbolic stoning of the devil ritual, the Saudi civil defence service said. AFP PHOTO / STR (Photo credit should read STR/AFP/Getty Images)

Hajj pilgrims and Saudi emergency personnel carry a woman on a stretcher. (STR/AFP/Getty Images)

Saudi emergency personnel transport a body at the site where at least 450 were killed and hundreds wounded in a stampede in Mina, near the holy city of Mecca, at the annual hajj in Saudi Arabia on September 24, 2015. The stampede, the second deadly accident to strike the pilgrims this year, broke out during the symbolic stoning of the devil ritual, the Saudi civil defence service said. AFP PHOTO / STR (Photo credit should read STR/AFP/Getty Images)

Saudi emergency personnel transport a body. (STR/AFP/Getty Images)

Saudi emergency personnel and Hajj pilgrims load a wounded person into an ambulance at the site where at least 450 were killed and hundreds wounded in a stampede in Mina, near the holy city of Mecca, at the annual hajj in Saudi Arabia on September 24, 2015. The stampede, the second deadly accident to strike the pilgrims this year, broke out during the symbolic stoning of the devil ritual, the Saudi civil defence service said. AFP PHOTO / STR (Photo credit should read STR/AFP/Getty Images)

Saudi emergency personnel and Hajj pilgrims load a wounded person into an ambulance. (STR/AFP/Getty Images)

Saudi emergency personnel help a wounded person at the site where at least 450 were killed and hundreds wounded in a stampede in Mina, near the holy city of Mecca, at the annual hajj in Saudi Arabia on September 24, 2015. The stampede, the second deadly accident to strike the pilgrims this year, broke out during the symbolic stoning of the devil ritual, the Saudi civil defence service said. AFP PHOTO / STR (Photo credit should read STR/AFP/Getty Images)

Saudi emergency personnel help a wounded person.(STR/AFP/Getty Images)

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h/t The Telegraph