Stampede at Hajj

At this year's Hajj, over 350 people lost their lives in a stampede while performing the 'stone throwing' ritual. Over 2 million pilgrims perform Hajj each year, and the arrangements for such an enormous communion are phenomenal. However, it is a difficult task to prepare a relatively small area for an influx of such a huge number of people and hence, accidents result. There have been stampedes in the past at the same site, and the bridge on which the ritual is performed has been renovated and reinforced several times to accommodate the large number of pilgrims. For more information on the tragic stampede that occurred this year, please click here.