Scores of Pilgrims Suffocated or Hurt in Tunnel at Mecca
Scores of Muslim pilgrims suffocated to death or were rendered unconscious today in a stampede in a congested pedestrian tunnel linking Mecca and Mina, witnesses said.
They said that the stampede prevented an accurate casualty count but that about 100 people were seen being carried away into ambulances or lying unconscious on the ground.
Many people were participating in the annual pilgrimage to Mecca.
Ambulances and security forces rushed to the exits of the 500-yard-long tunnel that joins Mecca and the nearby tent city of Mina, according to state-run Riyadh radio.
People were smothered “as thousands of the pilgrims thronged through the tunnel of Mo’essem, causing severe congestion within the tunnel as the pressure was beyond its capacity,” the radio said. “This led to some deaths and some cases of fainting.”
The air-conditioned tunnel can hold up to 1,000 pedestrians.
There are an estimated 2 million Muslims at Islam’s holy sites in the Mecca area for the annual Hajj, or pilgrimage. The celebration climaxed Sunday.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
