Indonesians among Mena stampede dead

Indonesians among Mena stampede dead

JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia (JP): At least four Indonesians have been
identified as being among the 35 trampled bodies in Monday's
tragic stampede in Mena during the Haj pilgrimage's "stoning of
satan" ritual.

Both the Indonesian Consulate General in Jeddah and officials
at the Indonesian Ministry of Religious Affairs in Jakarta
confirmed the deaths on Tuesday.

Three of the Indonesian dead were pilgrims from East Java:
Ittiyah binti Ridwan (passport No. 13169662) a resident of Krajan
in Probolinggo; Siti Aminah binti Moh. Jupri (passport No.
13079231) a native of Mojokerto mayoralty; and Saifuddin Hasan
bin Hasan Somad (passport No. 13077075) from Pakisaji in Malang
regency.

The other victim was identified as Rifdhol Yacob bin Aris
Rasyad (passport No. 09032669) a resident of Pesanggrahan, South
Jakarta.

Muhammad Khailani, head of the legal affairs office at the
Ministry, however said Jakarta was still waiting for "the
official announcement from the Saudi Arabian authorities."

The information obtained thus far was gathered from reports
filed by Indonesian Haj officials in Saudi Arabia.

According to Khailani the four pilgrims have been buried in
Ma'la, Mecca.

Coincidentally President Abdurrahman Wahid was also in Mena on
the Haj pilgrimage at the time the tragedy occurred. Everyone in
the presidential entourage was reportedly safe and no one was at
the scene of the incident when it occurred.

The president, who was in Jeddah on Tuesday, is due to depart
on Wednesday and arrive in Jakarta late on Thursday night.

According to the Indonesian Consulate-General's office as of
Tuesday afternoon, the total number of Indonesians who have died
during this year's pilgrimage has now reached 140.

Monday's accident happened after pilgrims dropped luggage they
were carrying, causing others to trip and fall, a government
statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency said.

It added that beside the 35 dead - 23 women and 12 men - a
total of 107 pilgrims were injured in the melee.

The pilgrims were apparently crushed to death or suffocated on
the bridge on Monday, the first day of the ritual, as over-
zealous pilgrims tried to push their way through to the main
pillar.

"The ramps were extremely congested. People, in tens of
thousands, were pushing and shoving. They used the entrance to
the ramps also as their exit, resulting in a massive crowd
getting stuck in a small area," Jaber, a Qatari pilgrim, who
witnessed the accidents said as quoted by the Associated Press.

Reuters quoted a Saudi source as saying the death toll has now
risen to 38, but there was no official confirmation of this.

An Egyptian Haj official said two Egyptian men were among the
dead, Egypt's news agency MENA reported on Tuesday.

Pakistani officials earlier said seven pilgrims from Pakistan
had been killed in the stampede. It further quoted sources as
saying that most of the dead and some of the injured were from
Pakistan, India and Bangladesh.

Undeterred

Undeterred by the deaths, pilgrims on Tuesday again packed the
1.6-kilometer Jamarat Bridge in Mena outside the holy city of
Mecca and pelted the concrete pillars to chants of "In the name
of God, God is Greatest".

The stoning ritual reached its peak early on Tuesday afternoon
but Crowds moved smoothly watched by hundreds of police as
loudspeaker announcements in eight languages guided the pilgrims,
who were given free chilled water in temperatures that reached 35
degrees Celsius.

Police formed human chains to limit the number of people going
through to the pillars. Medical teams stood by and helicopters
hovered above.

Saudi Interior Minister Prince Nayef expressed grief at the
deaths, saying that it occurred because many pilgrims arrived at
the bridge at the same time and rushed to complete their rituals.

He urged Muslim countries to intensify programs to make
pilgrims more aware of performing Haj rituals safely.

Official Saudi figures showed that 1.36 million pilgrims from
around the world performed the Haj this year, joined by 440,000
from inside the kingdom.

The holy Haj pilgrimage has been marred by similar fatal
incidents in recent years.

The greatest reported tragedy was in 1990 when 1,426 pilgrims
were crushed to death in a stampede in a tunnel.

A fatal fire in 1997 led the Saudi Arabia government to spend
millions of dollars on fire-proof tents. (04/byg)