REPORT: SAUDI ARABIA ALLEGEDLY BEHEADS 28 FOR HAJJ STAMPEDE

[Sally]

That's a lot of heads rolling, and no doubt without a fair trial/


REPORT: SAUDI ARABIA ALLEGEDLY BEHEADS 28 FOR HAJJ STAMPEDE

STR/AFP/Getty Images

by MARY CHASTAIN5 Oct 20151,047


The Saudi government allegedly beheaded the 28 people found responsible for the deadly stampede during the hajj pilgrimage in September.

Lebanese media outlet Beirut Daily al-Diyar reported a Saudi official announced the beheadings “due to failure to control the pilgrimage.” The King allegedly said these 28 people “did not follow the instructions,” which is “a great disservice to Saui Arabia.”

“This religious decree will be issued immediately in Mina tomorrow; they will be charged with violating security issues and disobeying orders which claimed the lives of more than 1000 pilgrims and brought disrepute for Saudi authorities,” stated the report.

Some feel Saudi Arabia is only trying to save face by using “criminals who are already imprisoned.” If they are non-criminals, activists believe the men did not receive a proper trial since the report was released only 12 hours after the stampede.

Continue reading at:

Report: Saudi Arabia Allegedly Beheads 28 for Hajj Stampede

 

[aris2chat]

That's a lot of heads rolling, and no doubt without a fair trial/


REPORT: SAUDI ARABIA ALLEGEDLY BEHEADS 28 FOR HAJJ STAMPEDE

STR/AFP/Getty Images

by MARY CHASTAIN5 Oct 20151,047


The Saudi government allegedly beheaded the 28 people found responsible for the deadly stampede during the hajj pilgrimage in September.

Lebanese media outlet Beirut Daily al-Diyar reported a Saudi official announced the beheadings “due to failure to control the pilgrimage.” The King allegedly said these 28 people “did not follow the instructions,” which is “a great disservice to Saui Arabia.”

“This religious decree will be issued immediately in Mina tomorrow; they will be charged with violating security issues and disobeying orders which claimed the lives of more than 1000 pilgrims and brought disrepute for Saudi authorities,” stated the report.

Some feel Saudi Arabia is only trying to save face by using “criminals who are already imprisoned.” If they are non-criminals, activists believe the men did not receive a proper trial since the report was released only 12 hours after the stampede.

Continue reading at:

Report: Saudi Arabia Allegedly Beheads 28 for Hajj Stampede

consider some 114 or more languages from around the world and not all speaking more Arabic than to recite their prayers.

As in most countries, ignorance of the law is not a defense. It is surprising that only 28 were found guilty.

 

[Vigilante]

 

[waltky]

More bodies than you could count...

Saudi crush was deadliest hajj tragedy ever
Oct. 9, 2015 — One survivor of last month's crush and stampede at the hajj in Saudi Arabia recalled seeing so many bodies that he couldn't tell how many there were.

The Associated Press sought to answer that question, arriving at a death toll of at least 1,470. That made the Sept. 24 disaster the deadliest accident ever at the annual pilgrimage. And hundreds remain missing. The AP count is 701 higher than Saudi Arabia's official tally of 769 killed and 934 injured in the Sept. 24 disaster in Mina, a few miles from the holy city of Mecca. Saudi officials, who could not be immediately reached for comment Friday, previously have said their tally remains accurate, although an investigation into the causes of the tragedy is ongoing. Authorities have not updated their casualty toll since Sept. 26.

A pilgrim is treated by a medic after a stampede that killed and injured pilgrims in the holy city of Mina during the annual hajj pilgrimage. A new tally shows last month’s crush and stampede at the Saudi hajj was the deadliest event to ever strike the annual pilgrimage. The Associated Press count Friday, Oct. 9, 2015, shows at least 1,453 people died​

The hesitancy to acknowledge a higher toll may reflect the leadership's reflex to clamp down on information as it struggles with multiple pressures. The kingdom is dealing with a war in Yemen, Russia's entry into the Syrian conflict and low oil prices that are straining the budget — and the hajj tragedy is already opening it up to sharp criticism from opponents, particularly Iran. The previous deadliest-ever incident at the annual hajj happened in 1990, when a stampede killed 1,426 people. Stampedes and crushes are a major danger at the hajj since it attracts more than 2 million pilgrims a year, all moving simultaneously in close quarters through a number of rituals over the course of five days.

The AP figure comes from statements and officials' comments from 19 of the over 180 countries that sent citizens to the five-day annual pilgrimage. Authorities have said the crush and stampede occurred when two waves of pilgrims converged on a narrow road, causing hundreds of people to suffocate or be trampled to death. Mohammed Awad of Sudan told the AP at the time that he and his 56-year-old father were separated in the pushing and shoving. The 36-year-old pilgrim later found him alive under at least 10 bodies. "You can't count how many bodies there were. They were stacked high," Awad said.

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[Sally]

More bodies than you could count...

Saudi crush was deadliest hajj tragedy ever
Oct. 9, 2015 — One survivor of last month's crush and stampede at the hajj in Saudi Arabia recalled seeing so many bodies that he couldn't tell how many there were.

The Associated Press sought to answer that question, arriving at a death toll of at least 1,470. That made the Sept. 24 disaster the deadliest accident ever at the annual pilgrimage. And hundreds remain missing. The AP count is 701 higher than Saudi Arabia's official tally of 769 killed and 934 injured in the Sept. 24 disaster in Mina, a few miles from the holy city of Mecca. Saudi officials, who could not be immediately reached for comment Friday, previously have said their tally remains accurate, although an investigation into the causes of the tragedy is ongoing. Authorities have not updated their casualty toll since Sept. 26.

A pilgrim is treated by a medic after a stampede that killed and injured pilgrims in the holy city of Mina during the annual hajj pilgrimage. A new tally shows last month’s crush and stampede at the Saudi hajj was the deadliest event to ever strike the annual pilgrimage. The Associated Press count Friday, Oct. 9, 2015, shows at least 1,453 people died​

The hesitancy to acknowledge a higher toll may reflect the leadership's reflex to clamp down on information as it struggles with multiple pressures. The kingdom is dealing with a war in Yemen, Russia's entry into the Syrian conflict and low oil prices that are straining the budget — and the hajj tragedy is already opening it up to sharp criticism from opponents, particularly Iran. The previous deadliest-ever incident at the annual hajj happened in 1990, when a stampede killed 1,426 people. Stampedes and crushes are a major danger at the hajj since it attracts more than 2 million pilgrims a year, all moving simultaneously in close quarters through a number of rituals over the course of five days.

The AP figure comes from statements and officials' comments from 19 of the over 180 countries that sent citizens to the five-day annual pilgrimage. Authorities have said the crush and stampede occurred when two waves of pilgrims converged on a narrow road, causing hundreds of people to suffocate or be trampled to death. Mohammed Awad of Sudan told the AP at the time that he and his 56-year-old father were separated in the pushing and shoving. The 36-year-old pilgrim later found him alive under at least 10 bodies. "You can't count how many bodies there were. They were stacked high," Awad said.

MORE

Hajj Has A Long History Of Tragic Safety Issues

Hajj Has A Long History Of Tragic Safety Issues

 

[waltky]

Thousands die in hajj disaster...

Saudi Arabia hajj disaster death toll at least 2,177
Oct 19,`15: The crush and stampede that struck the hajj last month in Saudi Arabia killed at least 2,177 pilgrims, a new Associated Press tally showed Monday, after officials in the kingdom met to discuss the tragedy.

The toll keeps rising from the Sept. 24 disaster outside Mecca as individual countries identify bodies and work to determine the whereabouts of hundreds of pilgrims still missing. The official Saudi toll of 769 people killed and 934 injured has not changed since Sept. 26, and officials have yet to address the discrepancy. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Naif bin Abdul Aziz, who is also the kingdom's interior minister, oversaw a meeting late Sunday about the disaster in Mina, according to the official Saudi Press Agency. The agency's report did not mention any official response to the rising death toll. "The crown prince was reassured on the progress of the investigations," the SPA report said. "He directed the committee's members to continue their efforts to find the causes of the accident, praying to Allah Almighty to accept the martyrs and wishing the injured a speedy recovery."

A Muslim pilgrim walks through the site where dead bodies are gathered in Mina, Saudi Arabia during the annual hajj pilgrimage. The crush and stampede that struck the hajj last month in Saudi Arabia killed at least 2,121 pilgrims, a new Associated Press tally showed Monday, after officials in the kingdom met to discuss the tragedy.​

King Salman ordered the investigation into the disaster, the deadliest in the history of the annual pilgrimage. It came after a crane collapse in Mecca earlier that month killed 111 worshippers, and the twin disasters marred the first hajj to be overseen by the king since he ascended to the throne at the start of this year. The Saudi king holds the title of "Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques," and the monarchy's supervision of the hajj is a source of great prestige in the Muslim world. Riyadh has rejected a suggestion by Shiite power Iran, its main regional rival, to have an independent body take over planning and administering the five-day hajj pilgrimage, which is required of all able-bodied Muslims once in their lifetimes.

Iran has repeatedly blamed the disaster on the Saudi royal family, accusing it of mismanagement and of covering up the real death toll, which Tehran says exceeds 4,700, without providing evidence. "The lying and hypercritical bodies, which claim to (be promoting) human rights, as well as the Western governments, which sometimes make great fuss over the death of a single person, remained dead silent in this incident in favor of their allied government," Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Monday, according to a transcript on his website. "If they were sincere, these self-proclaimed advocates of human rights should have demanded accountability, compensation, guarantee for non-recurrence and punishment for the perpetrators of this catastrophe." Iran and Saudi Arabia are deeply divided on a host of regional issues and back opposite sides in the wars in Syria and Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition has been at war with Iran-backed Shiite rebels, known as Houthis, since March.

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[waltky]

Mebbe dey's buried inna desert...

Iran: Missing pilgrims possibly buried in Saudi Arabia
Oct 20,`15 -- Iran's official IRNA news agency is saying that some Iranian pilgrims still missing since a September stampede during the hajj may have been possibly buried in Saudi Arabia.

The Tuesday report quotes Ali Marashi, an official with Iran's Red Crescent, as saying it was "possible" that Saudi authorities may have simply buried the unidentified victims. Tehran says 36 Iranian pilgrims are still unaccounted for.

Iran, with 465 pilgrims killed, has repeatedly blamed the disaster on the Saudi government, accusing it of mismanagement and of covering up the real death toll.

An independent counting by The Associated Press shows at least 2,177 pilgrims from various countries were killed in the incident. The official Saudi toll of 769 people killed and 934 injured has not changed since Sept. 26.

News from The Associated Press