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Arabia
Annual Hajj Stampede
2006-01-12
If it seems like an annual event, it is! Ahhh, to live and die in Mecca will most certainly please Allan! Allan be praised, Allan the merciful!
Muslim pilgrims stampeded on the last day of a symbolic stoning ritual at the hajj on Thursday, and the Interior Ministry said an unknown number of people were killed. The Al-Arabiya network reported that dozens of pilgrims died.

The stampede occurred as tens of thousands of pilgrims filed past al-Jamarat, a series of three pillars representing the devil that the faithful pelt with stones to purge themselves of sin. The ritual has seen deadly stampedes in the past, including one in 1990 that killed 1,426 people and another in February 2004 that killed 244.

A ministry spokesman, Maj. Gen. Mansour al-Turki, said the stampede happened after some pieces of luggage dropped from moving buses. The pilgrims apparently tripped over them as they were rushing to the pillars, he said. Al-Turki said there were deaths, but he could not give an exact number.
Posted by:The Angry Fliegerabwehrkanonen & Deacon Blues

#5  LOL - Hajj rookies indeed
Posted by: Frank G   2006-01-12 20:17  

#4  Devil Takes Hajj Battle, Beats Vegas Spread
by Scott Ott


(2006-01-12) — Oddsmakers in Las Vegas warn customers never to wager against the Devil in his annual contest versus stone-throwing Muslims during the Hajj (pilgrimage) to Mecca.

This year, not only did the Devil extend his undefeated streak, but he beat the spread that Vegas insiders had pegged at 250 deaths, based on his 2004 performance.

The ceremonial stoning of the Devil is a highlight of the annual pilgrimage, and an economic shot-in-the-arm for the local healthcare and funeral services industries.

An unnamed Saudi cleric, speaking for Allah, the official deity of Islam, defended the Pilgrims’ effort despite this year’s toll of 345 dead and hundreds injured.

“They put their hearts into it,” the Imam said. “But we just didn’t execute on the fundamentals — like standing up and staying out from under foot. This game is 90 percent mental, so we’ll have to go back to the Koran and work on the basics.”

During his annual post-stampede news conference, the Imam brushed aside suggestions that he might forfeit future match-ups with Satan, or attack in smaller groups to reduce accidental trampling. Instead, he searched for a silver lining in the depressing performance.

“If it’s any comfort to the families of our deceased Hajj rookies,” he said, “at least Muslims are required to make only one trip to Mecca in a lifetime.”
Posted by: From Scrappleface   2006-01-12 18:47  

#3  I don't think it's anywhere near a record - but that's a good thing. What sad tools...
Posted by: .com   2006-01-12 12:45  

#2  Per CNN we have a new record, 345.

Now if that happened in the West, the media would be all over it with tearful relative interviews and pogroms to punish the scapegoats.

(.... perhaps "pogrom" is out of context given the traditional target of pograms.... or not, because we'll hear yet it was the Jews.....)
Posted by: Flomosing Crereck4685   2006-01-12 12:34  

#1  For the want of just one more bungee cord.
Posted by: .com   2006-01-12 09:21  

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