Survivors tell story of Mina stampede

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.