MINA, 14 February 2003 — Heavy rains lashed Mina yesterday as two million pilgrims wound their way out of the tented city after performing the ritual of stoning the devil for the third consecutive day.
However, the last day was marred by a minor stampede in which one pilgrim was killed and 63 others fainted because of the surging crowds on Jamarat Bridge. The nationality of the pilgrim who died on the way to hospital was not immediately available.
Interior Minister Prince Naif yesterday urged foreign Haj missions to enlighten their pilgrims about performing the Haj rituals in a peaceful and orderly manner to prevent stampedes and other accidents.
Addressing Haj security commanders and senior officers in Makkah, he said the Interior Ministry had deployed more than 13,000 officers in and around the Jamarat in Mina to organize the stoning ritual.
According to the Ministry of Interior spokesman, Gen. Ameed Abdul Aziz Saeed, all 63 pilgrims who fell unconscious were treated and discharged from the Ministry of Health hospitals later in the day.
Helicopters hovered over the Jamarat Bridge directing the security forces to the area where the stampede took place. Dozens of ambulances were at hand to ferry the injured pilgrims to nearby hospitals.
Eyewitnesses said the incident occurred when a large group of Turkish pilgrims returning after the stoning rituals ran into other pilgrims heading in the opposite direction just after Dhuhr prayers.
Meanwhile, with the sun shrouded behind the clouds, the weather remained mild and pleasant throughout the day, much to the relief of the exhausted pilgrims.
It rained heavily in the evening just when they were departing from this tented city. Umbrellas of all colors meant to protect them from the blazing sun were out in full force to shield pilgrims from the heavy downpour.
Many were overjoyed, and they attributed the welcome change in the weather to the blessings of Allah.
“This is proof of the fact that Allah the Almighty has accepted our Haj,” exclaimed Abdullah Al-Amri, a 33-year-old Saudi national from Riyadh, who is performing the pilgrimage for the first time.
He was making calls from his cell phone to his relatives informing them of the sudden downpour.
Fatema Areej and her two children, who were camping along with Fatema’s husband next to the media center here, were similarly delighted at the rains.
“Rain is always welcome. It comes as a big relief and not only cools temperatures but lowers tempers too,” she said.
Fatema added that many pilgrims were showing signs of irritation because of exhaustion, but after the rains they were seen openly celebrating.
According to one representative of the Establishment of Muttawifs of South Asian Pilgrims, the rains were not totally unexpected.
“It usually rains at this time of the year in these parts,” he explained. “We are relieved that it did not rain during the initial days of the pilgrimage. Though we were prepared for the worst, the rains would have over-stretched the administrative machinery,” he said.
Immediately before sunset, hundreds of buses and cars streamed out of Mina, packed with pilgrims headed home or to Makkah after performing the journey of faith.
“Thank God, I completed the pilgrimage. I hope I live long enough to do it again,” Tamim Abdul Aziz from the United Arab Emirates said after leaving the tented city’s jurisdiction.
Tamim, his head shaved, exchanged congratulations with friends and relatives as they parted ways.
