Death Toll of Muslim Pilgrims in Fire Rises to 343

The death toll climbed to 343 on Wednesday from a tent city fire near Islam’s holiest site, while authorities struggled to save badly burned survivors and helped anguished relatives track down the missing.

The annual Muslim hajj went forward, with 2 million pilgrims praying at Mt. Arafat. In their sheer numbers, they helped explain why the hajj seems destined to be jolted by tragedies like Tuesday’s blaze.

While the Saudi government has worked to keep up with the ever-growing influx, ensuring safety for the pilgrims is a monumental task. Each year the numbers grow, and so does the demand for security and services.

On Wednesday, an Indian preacher demanded something be done so those who make the pilgrimage do not have to bring along small gas cooking stoves--believed to be the cause of the fire.

“The Saudi government should start community kitchens so that individual hajjis don’t have to cook their own meals,” Syed Ahmed Bukhari said at the main mosque in New Delhi, the Indian capital.

The death toll of 343--reported by Saudi television Wednesday--was expected to climb because many of the hundreds of injured were in serious condition.

Saudis and Europeans were reported among the dead. But the fire centered on a part of the camp housing Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis, and pilgrims’ anguished relatives back home sought names of victims.