Survivors tell story of Mina stampede

Apriadi Gunawan and A. Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Medan/Jakarta

Farid Nasution arrived home from the haj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia with a sigh of relief on Saturday, still struggling to bury the bitter memory of his survival in the Mina stampede, which killed 57 Indonesians.

"God helped me escape the tragedy," Farid, who was part of the first batch of Indonesian pilgrims, said upon arrival at the Pangkalan Mansyur haj dormitory here. Governor Rizal Nurdin welcomed the pilgrims home at Polonia Airport.

The first Indonesian pilgrims arrived on Saturday at several airports. With 205,000 pilgrims this season, the last batch is expected to reach home on March 6.

Farid said he and five of his fellow pilgrims from Medan had struggled for their lives when thousands of pilgrims scrambled to throw stones at pillars representing the devil in the valley near Mecca on Feb. 1.

Welcomed and hugged by tearful family members, Farid called his survival a miracle as he was among those who were caught in the stampede in Mina.

"Some pilgrims kept pushing us from behind while others standing in front of us resisted. We were in the middle of very tall and well-built pilgrims," Farid recalled, crying.

He said he fell and was slightly unconscious but suddenly was able to stand up again.

When he managed to stand up, he realized many pilgrims had collapsed and were trampled to death in the chaos.

"I could not avoid stepping on the bodies although I did not want to. It was very crowded and there was no other way to escape the turmoil," Farid told The Jakarta Post. He survived with a bruised back.

"I never thought I would survive."

He revealed that he and his five fellow pilgrims decided to go to the stone-pelting site after the predawn prayer as they did not know the schedule for Indonesian pilgrims to perform the ritual. The six thought it would be better to finish their haj rituals as early as possible, Farid said.

Farid's haj group leader Mahyudin said the six people should have conducted the ritual in the afternoon in accordance with the time allocated for Indonesian pilgrims.

"They went out without my knowledge. Indonesian pilgrims were scheduled for the afternoon," Mahyudin said.

Several haj pilgrims earlier claimed they had not been informed about the schedule until the incident occurred at about 11 a.m. local time. A total of 244 people were killed.

Another survivor from Makassar, South Sulawesi, Tinggih, 54, claimed he was not told about the schedule.

Tinggih said he and a group of South Sulawesi pilgrims went to Mina despite the fact that they were tired.

"Most of the pilgrims are bigger than Indonesian people. We were very weak at that time because most of us had not slept the night before," he said as quoted by the Indonesian haj media center.

He claimed the tragedy was triggered by a group of pilgrims who were involved in a fight with another group.

"It began when an African woman fell and was trampled on. Her husband and his friends tried to help her but were pushed by other pilgrims," he recounted.

Another survivor, Sriyana from Jeneponto regency, South Sulawesi, confirmed Tinggih's account.

"It was the fight that triggered the incident. I saw many of my friends trampled on," Sriyana said.

The number of Indonesian pilgrims killed in the Mina tragedy increased to 57 after two more bodies were identified as Indonesian citizens. They were Amum Akib from West Nusa Tenggara and Ronimah Nangjab from South Sumatra.

One of the Indonesian victims had been living in Saudi Arabia for years. He was identified as Sukasto.

The deceased were buried in Ma'la cemetery, Mecca, on Thursday, although families of some Indonesian pilgrims had asked the Saudi authorities to fly the remains of their loved ones back to Indonesia.

The Saudi Arabian government does not accommodate such requests.