September 24: On This Day in World History … briefly
Most notable historic snippets or facts extracted from the book ‘On This Day’ first published in 1992 by Octopus Publishing Group Ltd, London, as well as additional supplementary information extracted from Wikipedia.
2015: At least 1 100 people are killed and another 934 wounded after a stampede during the Hajj in Saudi Arabia
On September 24, 2015, an event described as a ‘crush and stampede’ caused deaths estimated at well over 2 000 pilgrims, suffocated or crushed during the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Mina, Mecca, Saudi Arabia. The high number of deaths caused by the disaster make it the deadliest Hajj disaster in history. Estimates of the number of dead vary; the Associated Press reported 2 411 dead, while Agence France-Presse reported 2 236 killed.
Based on the total of the individual national reports cited, at least 2 431 people died. The government of Saudi Arabia officially reported two days after the event that there had been 769 deaths and 934 injured. These figures remained official at the time of the following year’s hajj and were never updated. The largest number of victims was from Iran, followed by Mali and Nigeria.
The crush took place in Mina at the intersection of streets 204 and 223 leading up to Jamaraat Bridge. The cause of the disaster remains in dispute. The Mina disaster inflamed tensions between regional rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran, which were already elevated due to the wider turmoil in the Middle East, such as the Syrian Civil War and Yemeni Civil War.
In a press conference held on the day of the incident, Saudi Ministry of Interior spokesman Mansour Al-Turki attempted to address most issues regarding the incident. He said in September 2015 that an investigation was ongoing, and that the exact cause of the overcrowding that led to the deadly crush had not yet been ascertained.
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