Disaster! wow why....

[Mellez]

im gonna keep this shot but why do they do this... this is terrible, plz post back on what you think about it.. the link wont work. but anyway the site is



Http://uk.news.yahoo.com/12012006/32...haj-crash.html

[Mellez]

MENA, Saudi Arabia (Reuters) - At least 345 Muslim pilgrims were crushed to death on Thursday during a stoning ritual on the last day of the haj, the worst tragedy to beset the sacred ritual in more than a decade.

"So far, the number of confirmed deaths is 345 and the number of injured in hospital is 289," Health Minister Hamad bin Abdullah al-Manei told Saudi state television, adding that many

had been discharged.
The pilgrims were crushed at the eastern entrance of Mena's disaster-prone Jamarat Bridge as they jostled to perform the stoning between noon and sunset in Mena, a narrow valley near the holy city of Mecca.

"It was like the road of death there," one pilgrim said, describing women fainting and people elbowing and pushing to get closer to the wall where pilgrims direct their stones.

Some 2.5 million Muslim are performing the haj this year, and the death toll was the worst since 1,426 people were killed in a stampede in a tunnel in Mecca in 1990.

Thursday's crush intensified as many pilgrims scrambled to pick up belongings lost in the heavy crowds, officials said.

"Immediately after noon, there was severe overcrowding among the pilgrims that led to many falling and dying," Manei said. Many pilgrims insist on following Prophet Mohammad's example of stoning after noon prayers instead of staggering the ritual throughout the day as some clerics recommend.

Bodies covered in white shrouds littered the Jamarat area, as medics tended to the injured on stretchers. The bodies were driven away in ambulances and refrigerated trucks.

"The people who died were trying to get onto the bridge to do their stoning. But a wave of people came from the (other) direction trying to get off the bridge. That's when people died," said Egyptian Amr Gad.

DISASTER-PRONE RITUAL

The crush was the second disaster to hit this year's pilgrimage. Last week, 76 people were killed when a hostel in Mecca collapsed in a narrow street.

Saudi security forces set up a tight cordon around the Jamarat Bridge to control the crowds, as many pilgrims thronged to carry on stoning three walls in a symbolic casting out of the devil and rejection of temptation.

"It (the crush) was the result of a large number of personal belongings being dropped and because large numbers of pilgrims insisted on doing the stoning in the afternoon," the Saudi Interior Ministry said in a statement on state news agency SPA.

"Pilgrims fell over and crushed each other at the eastern entrance to the Jamarat," the statement said.

The haj is a duty for every able-bodied Muslim at least once in a lifetime. Many pilgrims transport their belongings from site to site, hampering the flow of pilgrims.

"There was crowding and pushing, of course. It's so sad to hear about the people who died," said Fawaz Zahrani, a Saudi.

The pilgrimage has been marred by stampedes in the past, and some of the worst have occurred in Mena. In 2004, some 250 pilgrims were crushed to death at Jamarat Bridge. A decade earlier, 270 were killed in a similar stampede.

Saudi Arabia has revamped the Jamarat area by expanding the stoning targets and provided an unprecedented security blanket including 60,000 security men to control the huge crowd and avert possible attacks by Islamist militants.

After this year's haj, the Jamarat Bridge will be replaced with a more elaborate bridge involving a four-level system of entrances and exits to the three walls, including a subway, and costing 4.2 billion riyals (645 million pounds).

Pilgrims, in white robes meant to eradicate differences in race and class between Muslims, perform a third day of stoning on Thursday and make a final visit to the Grand Mosque in Mecca, according to rules laid out by Prophet Mohammad 1,400 years ago.

well i just cut and pasted cuz link didnt work so plz post back and say what u think.

[Fiona]

Mellez, I don't know how to find this. What is it about?

Oh. Thanks for that

I find it very hard to say anything constructive about this. It's awful, and with such numbers it's hard to see how it could be avoided with any certainty.

[Mellez]

does this happen often i just wanna clarify why people in the world would do it?

[Fiona]

Originally Posted by Mellez

does this happen often i just wanna clarify why people in the world would do it?

It happens some years. I don't really understand the question. Do what? They go to Mecca because it is a religious duty, as the article says. They follow the ritual because they believe it is important to their faith. Is that what you are asking about?

[Mellez]

at the start passages it talks about people stoning each other and people stampeding. like people getting crushed for this ritual? is it really this important.

[Fiona]

I think they stone a wall. Stoning people is an accident, I believe. As is the crushing. It's a function of the sheer numbers, not part of the ritual. You'd have to ask a religious person to get a sensible answer about whether it is that important. I am not competent to say. But the people who are involved clearly believe that it is

[Mellez]

thanks fiona. as u know im only 16 and dont have much world experience lol, just need a helping hand in understanding these new things

[Lestat]

It happen's almost every year... The problem is the crowd control with millions of people.

To make somewhat irreverent parallel:
Imagine a rock festival on a fairly small field with tens of thousands fans who suddenly all want to be on the first row for that one group.

Multiply that by a hundred and you have an idea of the logistical nightmare.

The problem grows because the population grows and certainly the Muslim population which is concentrated in high growth countries. And moreover even for poorer people, international travel becomes more feasible so more and more pilgrims are involved.

[Fiona]

I hope that some of the other people here, who know much more about it than me, will reply to this thread. I can't help much. I think that there are 5 things that a moslem must do in the course of his life to fulfill his obligations, and they are called the 5 pillars of Islam. The Haj is one of them, I believe. You might find more information if you search under those terms, perhaps

[Mccool]

Don't they stone the wall because the devil appeared there in front of one of their prophets?

[Mellez]

k thx lestat and fiona!

[Mellez]

mc cool, were u get my avatar!?