At least 345 die in Mecca stampede (Repost for a reason)

Al Bawaba ^ | 1/12/06 | Al Bawaba

[Sax]

At least 345 die in Mecca stampede

Posted: 12-01-2006 , 16:43 GMT

At least 345 people were killed in a stampede, which occurred in Mecca as tens of thousands of pilgrims headed toward al-Jamarat, a series of three pillars representing the devil that the faithful pelt with stones to purge themselves of sin.

The Saudi Interior Ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Mansour al-Turki said 345 people died. More than 1,000 people were wounded, said Dr. Abbasi with the Saudi Red Crescent. State-run Saudi television Al-Ekhbariyah reported that most of the victims were from South Asia.

The stampede took place as pilgrims were rushing to complete the last of three days of the stoning ritual before sunset, al-Turki, added, according to the AP. Some of the pilgrims started to trip over dropped luggage, causing a large pileup, he said.

The site is a bottleneck for the massive crowds that attend the annual hajj pilgrimage and has seen deadly stampedes in the past, including one in 1990 that killed 1,426 people and another in February 2004 that killed 244.

The latest incident came despite Saudi efforts to ease the flow of traffic around al-Jamarat.

[Sax]

YES. I know this has been posted multiple times, the actual content isn't what I noticed.

Follow the link to the original article and it explains how the tragedy played out, pilgrims tripped over luggage...hey wait, the word luggage is a hypertext link...hovering the pointer over it prompts an add for - "Pssst. Wanna buy some luggage at a discount." I laughed out loud at how tasteless this was.

[Paloma_55]

Reminds me of the time Jesus cast the demons out of a crazy man on the far side of the lake.

[Lekker 1]

OMG...That is too funny! [uh, I mean tragic :-(]

[Gordongekko909]

I understand that that's automated. Certain keywords get hyperlinked whenever they show up in articles, leading to some very illogical results in certain circumstances.

[big'ol_freeper]

Target of opportunity.

[RichInOC]

Why should we nuke Mecca when the hajis are apparently capable of offing themselves without any outside help whatsoever?

[jsk10]

Religion of peace...pieces...something like that.

[Sax]

Yeah, I know it wasn't place there, but appeared as an automated function, but it's been there for a while now!

[Mike Darancette]

It doesn't even seem to be luggage in which most Islamic Pilgrims would be interested.

Slightly crumpled Luggage used only once for Mecca stampede.

[A CA Guy]

Sad that all those people died in what might have been one of their few non-violent expressions of their faith.

That being said, what happened that caused the stampeded, did someone yell soap.

[Bigh4u2]

Hey, as long as it was 'reposted for a reason' than that's ok!

:0)

[Gordongekko909]

There are probably contract issues that prevent it from being taken down without the consent of the company advertising on the site that the link redirects to.

Still, if I were a luggage manufacturer, I sure as hell wouldn't want that kind of exposure.

[Wil H]

Depends how non-violent you consider a mass stoning to be...

[laney]

Just a Cattle Call....

[horse_doc]

It's like the Running of the Bulls, in Pamplona, only everyone gets to play.

[A CA Guy]

Is a stampede a stoning?

[razorback-bert]

I couldn't find any camel bags.

[johnny7]

Second-hand white-sale starts Friday!

[Freebird Forever]

At least 345 people were killed in a stampede, which occurred in Mecca as tens of thousands of pilgrims headed toward al-Jamarat

Heathens crushed to death while attending one of their ceremonies.

Not to worry. I'm sure that they're all now someplace nice and warm.