T
|
he
deadly stampede at the Hajj in Saudi Arabia on Thursday 10th
Zhul-Hajj 1436 AH (24th September of 2015) was just the latest
tragedy to strike the pilgrimage. Here is a timeline of significant incidents
during the annual event, which draws around two million Muslim faithful from
around the world.
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Scene of an accident on September
11, 2015 where 109 people were killed and many injured when
a crane collapsed on Makkah’s Grand Mosque after strong winds and heavy rain.
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·
1905
In
1905 the El Tor strain of cholera was discovered in six pilgrims returning from
hajj at the El-Tor quarantine camp in Egypt.
·
1973
January
22, 1973: A Royal Jordanian Boeing 707 crashed at Kano, Nigeria, killing 176
Hajj pilgrims returning from Mecca.
·
1974
December
4, 1974: Martinair Flight 138 crashed near Colombo, Sri Lanka, killing all 191
people aboard – 182 Indonesian hajj pilgrims bound for Mecca, and 9 crew
members.
·
1975
December: A huge fire started by a gas canister
exploding in a pilgrim camp close to Makkah kills 200 people.
·
1978
November
15, 1978: Icelandic Airlines Loftleiðir HF Flight LL 001 crashed at Colombo,
Sri Lanka, killing 170 (mostly Indonesian) Muslim pilgrims returning from the
Hajj.
·
1979
November 20: Hundreds of gunmen opposed to the Saudi
government barricade themselves inside the Grand Mosque, taking dozens of
pilgrims hostage. The official toll of the assault and subsequent fighting is
153 people dead and 560 wounded.
November
26, 1979: Pakistan International Airlines Flight 740 crashed after takeoff from
the old Jeddah International Airport on 26 November 1979 killing all 156 on
board.
·
1980
August
19, 1980: Saudia Flight 163 had a cargo compartment fire shortly after take-off
from Riyadh airport. All 287 passengers and 14 crew on board the Lockheed
L-1011-200 TriStar, registration HZ-AHK, died after the aircraft made an
emergency landing.
·
1987
July 31: Saudi security forces suppress an
unauthorized protest held by Iranian pilgrims. More than 400 people, including
275 Iranians are killed, according to an official toll.
·
1989
July 10: A twin attack on the outside of the Grand
Mosque kills one and wounds 16. Sixteen Kuwaiti Shiites are found guilty of the
crime and executed weeks later after
authorities originally suspected Iranian agents.
·
1990
July 2: A huge stampede in a tunnel at Mina after a
failure in its ventilation system kills 1,426 pilgrims, mainly from Asia.
·
1991
July
11, 1991: Nigeria Airways Flight 2120 (operated by Nationair) was a chartered
passenger flight from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to Sokoto, Nigeria which crashed
shortly after takeoff from King Abdulaziz International Airport, killing all
247 Hajj pilgrims and 14 crew members on board.
·
1994
May 24: 270 people are killed in a stampede during the
stoning, an incident authorities attribute to “record numbers” of pilgrims at
the site.
·
1995
May 7: Three people die and 99 are injured when a fire
breaks out at the Mina camp.
·
1997
April 15: A fire caused by a gas stove rips through a
camp housing pilgrims at Mina, killing 343 and injuring around 1,500. The tents are now fireproof.
·
1998
April 9: More than 118 people are killed and 180
injured in a stampede at Mina.
·
2001
March 5: 35 pilgrims, including 23 women, die at the
ritual in Mina.
·
2003
February 11: 14 faithful, including six women, die on
the first day of the stoning ritual.
·
2004
February 1: 251 people are killed in a stampede at
Mina, also at the stoning of the devil.
·
2005
January 22: Three pilgrims are crushed to death in a
stampede at the stoning ceremony in Mina.
·
2006
December
2006: Before the beginning of the first day of the December 2006 Hajj, 243
pilgrims had died, according to a statement by the Saudi government. The
majority of deaths were reportedly related to heart problems, exhaustion in the
elderly and people with weak health, caused by the heat and tiring physical
work involved in the pilgrimage.
December
2006: a coach carrying pilgrims from holy sites in Medina to Mecca crashed 55
miles north of the port of Rabegh near Jeddah, killing 3 Britons and injuring
34 others, including two children.
January 6: 76 people die when a hotel collapses in the
city center.
January 12: 364 pilgrims are killed in a stampede
during the stoning ritual in Mina. The ritual involves Hajj participants
throwing pebbles at three headstones, symbolizing their rejection of Satan. The incident occurred shortly
after 13:00 local time, when a busload of travelers arrived together at the
eastern access ramps to the Jamarat Bridge. This caused pilgrims to trip,
rapidly resulting in a lethal stampede. An estimated two million people were
performing the ritual at the time.
·
2010
Of late, pickpocketing has created numerous problems
for Hajj pilgrims. According to the Save Madina Foundation, 321 were victims of
pickpocketing during Hajj in 2010.
·
2011
November
1, 2011: Two pilgrims, a wife and husband, died in a coach fire. There were two
coaches in the convoy, and a person in the second coach noticed smoke billowing
from the coach in front. He radioed the driver to stop. Everybody evacuated the
coach, and as the last two were getting out, the coach suffered three
explosions.
In
November 2011, thirteen Afghans died and a dozen others were wounded as a
result of illness and traffic accidents.
·
2015
September 24: A stampede during the “stoning of the
devil” ritual in Mina leaves at least 769 pilgrims dead and over 860 injured.
September 11: 109 people are killed and hundreds
injured, including many foreigners, when a crane collapses on Makkah’s Grand
Mosque after strong winds and heavy rain.
Sourced
and Edited from: Agence France Presse (AFP), Wikipedia and Saudi Arabian official
figures.
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