Bloody Holiday: Hundreds were crushed to death in pilgrimage

Saudi Arabia disaster: over 700 worshipers were crushed to death and hundreds more were injured during the mass pilgrimage on the occasion of 'Id al-Adha' festival began these days.

The tragedy occurred in the city of Muna located in a large valley about three miles from Mecca in Saudi Arabia. During the traditional prayer of Eid-el-Adha, at least 717 people among worshipers were killed in addition to the 800 people injured, the disaster was caused by crowding.

Saudi Arabia media said that this is the most serious disaster that occurred in the country over the last decade. In 1990, 1,426 pilgrims were killed as a result of the crush inside a tunnel leading to holy sites in Mecca.

The state civil defense directorate announced that the dead have different nationalities, Saudi media reported of hundreds of bodies crushed including wheelchairs.

It should be noted that two million people attend the prayer of Eid al-Adha this year in Saudi Arabia, a hundred thousand security personnel were stationed in the area to maintain order on the first prayer of Eid al-Adha.

Minister of Health of Saudi Arabia, Khalid al-Falih said that "if the pilgrims would follow the instructions, it was possible to prevent this kind of accident." In addition, the head of the Conference of Central State Hajj, Nasif Khalid al-Faisal, accused the "African national pilgrims" of the event.

'בחדרי' גם ברשתות החברתיות - הצטרפו!