Mecca crush during hajj pilgrimage kills at least 150 and injures 390

 

At least 150 pilgrims have been killed in a crush at Mina, outside the Muslim holy city of Mecca.
The horrifying incident took place as some two million people perform the annual hajj pilgrimage, Saudi Arabia's al-Ekhbariya television reported.

The news channel also cited civil defence officials as saying that at least 400 people were injured in the incident.
The incident took place during the Hajj ritual of stoning of the devil, where Muslim pilgrims fling pebbles at three walls in the city of Mina just east of Mecca.The sickening news comes just two weeks after 107 people were killed and after a crane crashed into the middle of Saudi Arabia's Grand Mosque in Mecca. Two of the dead were British.
Three Britons were also injured along with more than 230 others.
One of the dead was Bolton father-of-four Qasim Akram, who had only just arrived in the country along with his parents when the tragedy occurred.It is believed the crane had been blown over by strong winds and storms, breaking part of the roof and causing rubble to fall on those praying below.
Last year, the kingdom reduced the numbers permitted to perform haj for safety reasons because of construction work to enlarge the Grand Mosque.
The Hajj is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, and a mandatory religious duty for Muslims that must be carried out at least once in their lifetime by all adult Muslims who are physically and financially capable of undertaking the journey.