Hajj 2015 stampede

At least 21 Cameroonian Pilgrims perish in Saudi Arabia
- Many others seriously wounded; others missing
By Njodzefe Nestor in Bamenda
The Minister of Territorial Administration and Decentralization and Chairman of the National Hajj Commission, Rene Emmanuel Sadi has confirmed that 21 Cameroonian pilgrims have died and a dozen wounded as a result of the huge stampede that occurred Thursday, September 24, 2015 in Mina near Mecca in Saudi Arabia.
    In a public statement read over state TV on September 25, the MINATD Boss said 77 other Cameroonians have been found and taken care of  by the official delegation of Cameroon and its diplomatic mission in Saudi Arabia while a search has been launched for others who are still missing.
    A huge stampede killed at least 717 people and injured over 850 at the hajj in Saudi Arabia on September 23, in one of the worst ever tragedies at the annual Muslim pilgrimage. The stampede, the second deadly accident to strike the pilgrims this year, broke out during the symbolic stoning of the devil ritual, the Saudi civil defence service said.
    The head of the Saudi Arabia Hajj Committee has however laid the blame of the stampede solely on the foot of black African pilgrims.

    Prince Khaled al-Faisal, the head of the central Hajj committee said on Saudi-owned al-Arabiya TV that the stampede is all because of “some pilgrims with African nationalities”.
    Prince Khaled’s controversial remarks on undisciplined pilgrims were echoed by Saudi health minister Khaled al-Falih, who was quoted by El-Ekhbariya television as saying that “many pilgrims move without respecting the timetables set by authorities, which was the principal reason for this type of accident. If the pilgrims had followed instructions, this type of accident could have been avoided.”
    Iranian officials on the other hand, who lost about 23 of their citizens, accuse Saudi Arabia of mismanagement and lack of safety in the aftermath of the tragedy. The head of Iran’s Hajj organisation, Said Ohadi, said the incident was caused by the authorities’ decision to close two paths near the scene of the symbolic ‘stoning of the devil’ ritual.
    One wonders if the Africans are also to blame for the crane accident that killed about a 100 pilgrims just last week in Saudi Arabia.