We started early in the morning confident that as this was the last day of the pilgrimage, the crowds would be thinning, and that by afternoon we would be on our way home. All the journalists were elated that their duty was almost done. Calls were made to wives and children telling them to get ready to celebrate. Everyone was packing so that we could make our rounds of Mina, write the last story and run home. It was not to be. At mid-day tragedy struck and all our plans were for naught. In fact, the worst moments of the week began to unfold before our eyes.
***
Noon found Arab News staffer Essam Al-Ghalib, Al-Eqtisadiah’s Jamal Banoon and myself making our way to the Ministry of Health Hospital near Masjid Al-Qaif for a press conference scheduled to begin at 12:30. When we arrived at the location we were informed that the press conference was canceled.
A member of the Ministry of Health’s public relations team, Saeed Al-Nogais, told us that there was a stampede in progress somewhere near Jamarat and that many pilgrims were in trouble. We rushed toward the area. At Essam’s suggestion we followed the direction of the helicopters overhead. We arrived at the walkway leading to the Jamarat and saw dozens of pilgrims lying unconscious on the ground. Terrified friends and relatives were trying to revive them. Paramedics were moving quickly from one to the next, giving first aid.
Police officers were sprinkling cool water on the faces and heads of those who collapsed on the pavement.
The noise was deafening with the helicopters hovering overhead and the ambulance sirens blaring. The fallen pilgrims were efficiently lifted one by one onto stretchers and carried to ambulances, which gingerly crept through the crowd. It was extremely pitiful to see the injured pilgrims as they were being moved away, stretching out their arms, trying to clutch onto relatives or friends. They feared separation from their loved ones even though many were obviously in need of urgent treatment.
***
In the midst of all this action, Essam took out his camera and began snapping away, doing his best to capture the moment. But his efforts were not appreciated by the security personnel at the scene. One officer pushed over to Essam, shouting that taking photographs was an infringement of regulations. The officer grabbed the camera and tore out the videocassette. He then ordered us away from the area. We took out our official press cards and tried to reason with the security guys, but to no avail. We were hustled away from the scene.
We went to speak to an official at the Ministry of Health, Dr. Ridah Khalil, about our predicament. Dr. Khalil became very upset with us. He told us that the tragedy was bigger than our camera and warned us to leave him alone. Frustrated and completely exhausted, we could not understand why the officials did not realize that we were just doing our job.
While some of the security officers were sympathetic to our situation, we could not convince the officer who had taken our videocassette to return it to us. We left without it. Our only consolation was that the officer was not aware how the camera worked and had not confiscated the memory stick, which stored still photographs. Those photographs are reproduced on the pages of Arab News today.
***
Getting back to business, we set out to try and discover how the stampede had started. We found four pilgrims from Glasgow, Scotland, looking on in horror from the edge of the crowd. Abdul Khaleq and his wife Naseeb Akhtar, and Abdul Razzaq and his wife Fareeda Razzaq had watched the catastrophe. They were extremely miserable to have seen it all, and had been helpless to do anything throughout the whole terrible episode.
They claimed that the problem began when a group of Turkish pilgrims with their country’s flag held high pushed through the crowd in the wrong direction. After stoning the Jamarat, pilgrims are supposed to continue forward and out of the area. For some unknown reason the group of Turkish pilgrims went to do the stoning and then turned around and walked back toward the oncoming pilgrims who had yet to complete the ritual. This caused pushing, shoving and eventually panic.
The two couples were frightened and said they would not do the stoning. They planned to go back to their tents, pack and leave. They would each sacrifice a sheep to make up for their error of omission.
“We have to be practical,” said Abdul Khaleq. The serious overcrowding at the Jamarat is causing many women to deputize others to do the stoning on their behalf. This is wise. In addition it should be said that part of the reason for the terrible crush early yesterday was that many pilgrims wanted to get back to Makkah and shop before leaving the holy city. If the stoning ritual is completed early the pilgrim may leave Mina before sunset, and return to normal life. Those who do the stoning later in the day and do not leave Mina before sunset, must remain there overnight. Many in-Kingdom pilgrims are taking this course of action as a way to complete the stoning ritual in safety.
***
Leaving the Jamarat area we saw that the streets in Mina were empty. Many pilgrims had already packed up and were moving out. Pilgrims walking toward the Jamarat were carrying all sorts of huge bags and bundles, either slung over their shoulders or tied on their backs. All these bundles were dramatically increasing the congestion in the Jamarat area.
After finishing the stoning ritual the pilgrims would take their bags and either gather on the outskirts of Mina, waiting for transport, or simply begin trekking to Makkah.
***
Something must be said about some of the self-styled guides who have been instructing and in some cases causing panic to the pilgrims. I do not want to confuse readers. There are official Haj guides and scholars with every national group. But then there are always some semi-literate individuals who style themselves as know-alls when it comes to the pilgrimage. Maybe they have done the pilgrimage once before. Or perhaps they have learned a little bit about the pilgrimage rituals here and there.
These “guides” circulate among the pilgrims telling them long lists of don’ts and bewares. Many of the pilgrims are completely illiterate and so they trust these people who seem to be so well informed. They shouldn’t. The “guides” push the pilgrims to do the stoning ritual very aggressively. They introduce all sorts of superstitions into the Haj. Countries must do a better job of educating their citizens at home so the pilgrims will avoid giving attention to such dangerous nonsense.
***
This year I noticed that there are two kinds of journalists at the Haj. There is one group that goes out and rushes from site to site gathering news first hand. Then there is a second group who attend press conferences and sit in the comfort of their tent, telephoning acquaintances and taking reports from them about the action in progress. Interestingly, the editors handling the journalists in the second group are unaware of their duplicity. I have heard these lazy journalists on the phone assuring their head offices that they are out there in the thick of things, when in actuality they are spending their time drinking tea and smoking cigarettes.
***
Now we are walking back to the press center to wait for the official announcement of the number of casualties in the stampede. We see pilgrims walking slowly by. They have small nicks on their heads from the razors they used on Tuesday. Their heels are cracked and bleeding from so much walking. Yet, they all look joyful. The sky is covered with dark clouds.
Here and there raindrops begin falling.
“Allah is Great,” the pilgrims cry out. The impending rain is viewed as mercy from God and a blessing on the pilgrimage. Some pilgrims tell us that if it rains they will feel that this is a sign that their Haj has been accepted by Allah. At 4:50 it happens. The clouds burst and the rain falls. What a wonderful way to end this year’s journey of a lifetime. May Allah bless our readers and grant us what we all desire most right now — peace.
