MECCA: More than 1,000 Muslim pilgrims died July 2 in a stampede in a crowded pedestrian. Tunnel leading to the holy city of Mecca witnesses and diplomats said.
One diplomat who refused to be identified put the total death toll at 1,400 and said most of the pilgrims victims were Malaysian and Indonesian.
Other Middle East and Asian diplomats said more than 1,000 were killed. Official Saudi media did not give a specific figure.
It shattered what had been a peaceful observance of the annual hajj, or pilgrimage and was the worst pilgrimage tragedy in recent years. In previous years, terrorist attacks and riots interfered with the celebration.
Ambulances and security forces rushed to the exits of the 500 yard long tunnel that joins Mecca and the tent city of Mina, according to state run Riyadh radio, which quoted an Interior Ministry spokesman in Mina.
Diplomats said that when the pilgrims entered the tunnel, some of them stopped in the middle of the walkway and there was a rush outside with people pushing each other to get in. The tunnel is air conditioned and the pilgrims apparently were trying to get out of the 112 degree heat.
Witnesses said people stamped, crushed hundreds and suffocating hundreds of others.
Article extracted from this publication >> July 6, 1990
