More than 700 killed in Haj stampede
The death toll from a stampede at the annual pilgrimage to Mecca has risen to 717, Saudi officials say, in the worst disaster at the holy site in 25 years.
THURSDAY 24 SEPTEMBER 2015The stampede, which happened at Mina, on the outskirts of the holy city of Mecca, also left at least 805 people injured, according to Saudi Arabia's civil defence directorate.
It happened in a street between pilgrim camps, Street 204, at Mina, a few kilometres east of Mecca where pilgrims stay for several days during the climax of the haj. It is one of two main arteries leading through the camp to Jamarat, where pilgrims ritually stone the devil by hurling pebbles at pillars - the last major rite of the pilgrimage.
