Death toll rises to 700 in Hajj pilgrimage stampede
At least 700 people have been killed and hundreds more injured in a stampede at the Hajj pilgrimage.
According to a Twitter announcement from officials in Saudi Arabia, the stampede happened as more than a million pilgrims were taking part in the last major rite of the Hajj near the Islamic holy city of Mecca.
The crush occurred during the ritual known as ‘stoning the devil’ in the tent city of Mina, about two miles from Mecca.
The UK Foreign Office said the British Embassy in Riyadh and British Consulate-General in Jeddah are urgently seeking more information and stand ready to provide support to any British nationals who may have been involved.
In 2006, a stampede during the same ceremony killed nearly 400 people, but it has been largely incident free since Saudi authorities implemented safety improvements.
Earlier this month, over 100 people were killed when a crane collapsed at the Holy Mosque in Makkah.
Three million people from all over the world, including thousands of Brits, travel to Saudi Arabia’s holy cities for the annual Islamic hajj pilgrimage.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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