Mina Stampede

As pilgrims from around the world symbolically stoned the devil on Monday in the last major rite of the hajj, the memory of a deadly stampede during last year's stoning ritual remains all too real for Kassoum Kouanda.

Muslim pilgrims reached Mina on Monday for the ritual stoning of the devil, the last major rite of the annual hajj and the scene of a devastating stampede last year.

From Asia, Africa and points in between, nearly 1.5 million Muslims begin the annual haj in western Saudi Arabia today, undeterred by a stampede which last year killed around 2,300.

The death toll of Indians in the Haj stampede has risen to 81 even as scores of nationals are still missing after the last month's tragedy, worst to hit the annual pilgrimage in 25 years.

A prominent Indian Islamic scholar, who was in Mina to perform Haj, has been reported missing since the deadly stampede broke out, the worst incident in 25 years to strike the annual pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia that had claimed the lives of at least 45 Indians.

President Hassan Rouhani will fly home early from New York to attend a repatriation ceremony in Tehran on Tuesday for Iranian pilgrims killed in the stampede at the Haj, his office said.

The death toll of Indian pilgrims in last week's horrific stampede during Haj rose to 35 today as authorities identified 13 more bodies among the victims of the worst tragedy to hit the annual pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.

Hamza Musa Kabir from Kano in northern Nigeria survived the massive stampede at the hajj by shedding his pilgrim's garment after he was pinned under a man in the crush, which killed 769 people.

"We can't find him" was the lament of anxious relatives and friends Saturday as they scoured hospital wards and the morgue, two days after the disaster at the haj.

For many Muslim families, the occasion of Eid al-Adha was a day of grief rather than celebrations. The stampede in Mina, outside the holy city of Mecca, two days ago, claimed the lives of more than 700 including 18 Indians on annual Haj pilgrimage.

Sirens wailed and helicopters hovered overhead as dozens of ambulances brought in victim after victim from a stampede that killed more than 700 Thursday in the holy Saudi valley of Mina.

President Pranab Mukherjee condoled the tragic incident loss of life of over 700 pilgrims during a stampede at Mina in Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia's crown prince ordered an investigation into the stampede at the Haj pilgrimage that left more than 700 dead on Thursday, the official Saudi Press Agency reported.

Four Indians are reportedly among the 717 pilgrims who have died in a stampede at Mina outside the Muslim holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia. Several Indians are among those injured.

At least 700 pilgrims were killed in a stampede on Thursday outside the Muslim holy city of Mecca, where some two million people are performing the annual haj pilgrimage.

As pilgrims from around the world symbolically stoned the devil on Monday in the last major rite of the hajj, the memory of a deadly stampede during last year's stoning ritual remains all too real for Kassoum Kouanda.

Muslim pilgrims reached Mina on Monday for the ritual stoning of the devil, the last major rite of the annual hajj and the scene of a devastating stampede last year.

From Asia, Africa and points in between, nearly 1.5 million Muslims begin the annual haj in western Saudi Arabia today, undeterred by a stampede which last year killed around 2,300.

The death toll of Indians in the Haj stampede has risen to 81 even as scores of nationals are still missing after the last month's tragedy, worst to hit the annual pilgrimage in 25 years.

A prominent Indian Islamic scholar, who was in Mina to perform Haj, has been reported missing since the deadly stampede broke out, the worst incident in 25 years to strike the annual pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia that had claimed the lives of at least 45 Indians.

President Hassan Rouhani will fly home early from New York to attend a repatriation ceremony in Tehran on Tuesday for Iranian pilgrims killed in the stampede at the Haj, his office said.

The death toll of Indian pilgrims in last week's horrific stampede during Haj rose to 35 today as authorities identified 13 more bodies among the victims of the worst tragedy to hit the annual pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.

Hamza Musa Kabir from Kano in northern Nigeria survived the massive stampede at the hajj by shedding his pilgrim's garment after he was pinned under a man in the crush, which killed 769 people.

"We can't find him" was the lament of anxious relatives and friends Saturday as they scoured hospital wards and the morgue, two days after the disaster at the haj.

For many Muslim families, the occasion of Eid al-Adha was a day of grief rather than celebrations. The stampede in Mina, outside the holy city of Mecca, two days ago, claimed the lives of more than 700 including 18 Indians on annual Haj pilgrimage.

Sirens wailed and helicopters hovered overhead as dozens of ambulances brought in victim after victim from a stampede that killed more than 700 Thursday in the holy Saudi valley of Mina.

President Pranab Mukherjee condoled the tragic incident loss of life of over 700 pilgrims during a stampede at Mina in Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia's crown prince ordered an investigation into the stampede at the Haj pilgrimage that left more than 700 dead on Thursday, the official Saudi Press Agency reported.

Four Indians are reportedly among the 717 pilgrims who have died in a stampede at Mina outside the Muslim holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia. Several Indians are among those injured.

At least 700 pilgrims were killed in a stampede on Thursday outside the Muslim holy city of Mecca, where some two million people are performing the annual haj pilgrimage.