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)