Open Search form

×

Live Update arrow right icon

From the Liveblog of Thursday, September 24, 2015

Iran accuses Saudi Arabia of safety errors at hajj

24 September 2015, 2:12 pm

Edit

Iran accuses Saudi Arabia of safety errors after at least 15 of its citizens died Thursday in a stampede that killed several hundred people during the annual hajj pilgrimage.

The head of Iran’s hajj organization, Said Ohadi, said that for “unknown reasons” a path had been closed off near the scene of the symbolic stoning of the devil ritual where the accident later took place.

“This caused this tragic incident,” he says on Iranian state television.

— AFP

Muslim pilgrims pray outside Namira mosque in Arafat, on the second and most significant day of the annual hajj pilgrimage, near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Wednesday, September 23, 2015. (AP/Mosa'ab Elshamy) — Muslim pilgrims pray outside Namira mosque in Arafat, on the second and most significant day of the annual hajj pilgrimage, near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Wednesday, September 23, 2015. (AP/Mosa’ab Elshamy)

If you’d like to comment, join
The Times of Israel Community.

JOIN THE TOI COMMUNITY