Hajj
lborkowski | September 28, 2015The death toll from last week's stampede at the annual Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca has passed 700; on Saturday, Saudi Arabia's health ministry reported 769 deaths and 934 people injured. Basma Attasi reports for Al Jazeera that the stampede occurred when two waves of pilgrims collided -- but that there are conflicting reports about why that happened:
One crowd had just finished a ritual in which pilgrims throw pebbles at three stone columns representing the devil - a rite central to Hajj - when it ran into another wave of people heading to perform the rite.
Sources close to the government said…