At least 717 pilgrims were killed on Thursday in a crush at Mina, outside the Muslim Holy City of Mecca, where two million people are performing the annual Hajj pilgrimage, Saudi authorities said.
At least 450 others were injured in the stampede, which took place on Street 204 of the camp city at Mina, a few kilometers east of Mecca, where pilgrims stay for several days during the climax of the Hajj.
The pilgrimage, the world’s largest annual gathering of people, has been the scene of deadly disasters in the past, including stampedes, tent fires and riots.
Safety during Hajj is a politically sensitive issue for the kingdom’s ruling Al Saud dynasty, which presents itself internationally as the guardians of orthodox Islam and custodians of its holiest places in Mecca and Medina.
The government has spent billions of dollars upgrading and expanding Hajj infrastructure and crowd control technology in recent years and the last big deadly incident took place in 2006 when at least 346 pilgrims died in a stampede.
Street 204 is one of the two main arteries leading through the camp at Mina to Jamarat, where pilgrims ritually stone the devil by hurling pebbles at three large pillars. Jamarat was also the site of the 2006 disaster and several other past ones.
An Arab pilgrim, who did not want to give his name, said he had hoped to perform the stoning ritual later on Thursday afternoon but was now too frightened to risk doing so.