Meanwhile.... as the Pope does the "good news about religion" visit to the US...

[AlbertCat]

Saudi Arabia: Stampede at hajj kills 717 pilgrims

MINA, Saudi Arabia (AP) — A horrific stampede killed at least 717 pilgrims and injured hundreds more Thursday on the outskirts of the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia, the deadliest tragedy to strike the annual hajj pilgrimage in more than two decades.

At least 863 pilgrims were injured in the crush, said the Saudi civil defense directorate, which provided the death toll. The tragedy struck as Muslims around the world marked the start of the Eid al-Adha holiday.

********

But tragedies are not uncommon.

The death toll from Thursday's crush far exceeded that of a similar incident in 2006, near the same site, when more than 360 pilgrims were killed in a stampede. Another stampede at Mina in 2004 left 244 pilgrims dead and hundreds injured.

The deadliest hajj-related tragedy happened in 1990, when at least 1,426 pilgrims perished in a stampede in an overcrowded pedestrian tunnel leading to holy sites in Mecca.









http://www.aol.com/article/2015/09/24/saudi-arabia-says-220-pilgrims-dead-in-hajj-stampede/21240305/?icid=maing-grid7%7Cmain5%7Cdl2%7Csec1_lnk2%26pLid%3D1561027095

[AlbertCat]

1. Of course it's not just religion...

.... that generates these useless tragedies. I remember as a kid reading about hundreds of people being trampled to death as crowds going to bull fights in Spain met crowds leaving the last bull fight. Apparently it happened all the time!

I thought...imagine: "Honey! The kids and I are off to the bull fight now! Hasta luega!" ...and then....


Have hundreds died going to the ballet? (only of boredom perhaps.... some productions!)

[progressoid]

2. Yay GOD!

Or Allah or whatever.

Does this mean God was smiting them or he loved them so much he had them trampled into heaven? I'm confused.

[RussBLib]

3. will they ever learn?

will they ever grow up?

doesn't look good

[Brainstormy]

4. Allah works in mysterious ways n/t

[onager]

5. Eid al-Adha = Feast of the Sacrifice

And people get sacrificed like this almost every year.

I was living in Saudi Arabia when that 1990 trampling incident happened. Then in July 1991, a Canadian DC-8 chartered to carry pilgrims caught fire while taking off from Jeddah airport (where I lived). It crashed just outside the airport fence, near the airport exit from the Ring Road. So for months, when I went to the airport to leave The Magic Kingdom, that wreckage was lying there to give me something to think about...

[mr blur]

6. Yeah, but that's because they worship funny foreign God, not white English-speaking God,

He never lets bad things happen to anyone.

[AlbertCat]

7. A follow up....

Iran vows legal action against Saudi after hajj disaster

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran on Saturday vowed to take international legal action against Saudi Arabia's rulers over the crush of Muslim pilgrims at this year's hajj, which killed at least 769 people, including 136 Iranians.

The pilgrims suffocated or were trampled to death Thursday when two massive crowds converged on a narrow street, in the worst disaster to occur during the annual pilgrimage in a quarter-century. Shiite Iran has accused its Sunni archrival Saudi Arabia of mismanaging the pilgrimage, which annually draws some 2 million people from 180 countries.

Iranians comprise the largest group of casualties identified so far. Iranian state TV says Ghazanfar Roknabadi, a former ambassador to Lebanon, as well as two Iranian state TV reporters and a prominent political analyst are among those still missing.

"Under international law, this incident is absolutely subject to prosecution. The Al-Saud must be responsive," Iran's State Prosecutor Ebrahim Raisi told state TV, referring to Saudi Arabia's ruling family.


http://www.aol.com/article/2015/09/26/iran-vows-legal-action-against-saudi-after-hajj-disaster/21241269/?icid=maing-grid7%7Cmain5%7Cdl1%7Csec1_lnk2%26pLid%3D-261918891