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Friday April 26, 2024

Stampede reasons

The stampede at Mina was a tragic incident despite the excellent arrangements made by the Saudi authorities for the smooth flow of pilgrims. Considering the huge number of pilgrims, the need to educate them about following rules and cooperating with the authorities has attained a pivotal position. We have seen

By our correspondents
October 06, 2015
The stampede at Mina was a tragic incident despite the excellent arrangements made by the Saudi authorities for the smooth flow of pilgrims. Considering the huge number of pilgrims, the need to educate them about following rules and cooperating with the authorities has attained a pivotal position. We have seen that in the past too panic occurred only inside or around Jamarat at Mina. There are several reasons.
First, most pilgrims are in a hurry to finish Haj rituals and get back home. Second, a multi-layered bridge has been made to manage the crowd. The fact that panic occurs at the ground level shows that people try to finish the ritual early hence they prefer the ground level to the passage on the upper floor. This sometimes results in a stampede. Lastly, when a crowd slows down or stops moving for some reason, people become restless and start pushing. This should be avoided.
Nabiha Iqbal
Karachi