310 killed and hundreds injured in stampede during Hajj stone-throwing ritual

More than 300 people have been killed and hundreds more injured in a stampede during the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca. The crush happened at Mina, outside the Muslim holy city, where 2 million people have gathered for the annual pilgrimage. The Saudi civil defence directorate said the death toll had risen to 310 and that 450 people were injured.

We have a stampede accident in Mina and civil defense is dealing with it

Interior ministry spokesman Brig. Gen. Mansour al-Turki

Some 4,000 personnel, along with more than 220 emergency and rescue units, have been sent to the scene. The stampede occurred on the first day of Eid al-Adha, or the Feast of the Sacrifice. Pilgrims converge on Mina to throw stones at pillars representing the devil. Preparations for the Hajj were marred when a crane collapsed at Mecca’s Grand Mosque this month, killing 109 people.

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