A stampede at annual pilgrimage in Mecca has killed over 700 people and injured 900 more. The stampede, which occurred at 09:00 local time (06:00 GMT), took place on Thursday during one of the final ritual ceremonies of the Hajj.
According to BBC, before the stampede, a ritual known as "Stoning the Devil" where about 2 million Hajj pilgrims participated by throwing stones to pillars called Jamarat, was ongoing. The precise place was known as Mina and was two miles away from the holy city of Mecca.
Ahmed Mohammed Amer, a Hajj pilgrim, told CNN that the stampede began as their group was heading back, taking a road known as 204, when another group came from another joining road crossing the way of their group.
Five hours after the incident, another pilgrim, Ethar El-Katatney, told the publication that she saw many bodies being carried by ambulances. She also said that there were a lot of medical personnel and police officers.
The impact of the two groups was the cause of the stampede. The impact initiated a massive pushing and trampling causing the high number of fatalities among the pilgrims.
In the past, several hundreds have been killed in the same Hajj ceremony but there has never been a bigger death tally than this one. Moreover, it came only after 13 days passed subsequent to a crane collapse that killed more than 100 people at the Grand Mosque in Mecca.
Reports say that it is the most extreme disaster since 1990, when 1,426 people died.
The current death toll of the Mecca Hajj Stampede is 717, with 863 people believed to be injured and the numbers climbing steadily. Officials in Mecca and Saudi Arabia deployed 4,000 workers, and 220 ambulances in response to the stampede.