Bangladeshi Hajj pilgrims recount Mina stampede

Bangladeshi pilgrims have begun returning from Saudi Arabia, having witnessed the deadliest Hajj disaster in 25 years.

On the morning of Sep 24, when pilgrims were heading for the ‘stoning of the devil’ ritual at Jamarat, a crush at the Mina camp near Makkah killed over 700 people and left hundreds of others injured.
 
Rais Uddin Ahmed from the northern district of Rangpur crossed the disaster site sometime after the stampede.
 
“Police had blocked two out of the three gates for the security of a Saudi prince. They were not letting anyone pass. That created an immense pressure leading to the disaster,” he told bdnews24.com on Wednesday at the Dhaka airport.
 

He said a couple, known to him, who had crossed the spot before him was caught in the stampede and one of them is still missing.

“His name is Mamunur Rashid, we were together. The wife has been found, but he’s still missing,” said Ahmed, bursting into tears.

“If I had reached the place earlier, I would not have been able to return.” 

The Bangladesh government has confirmed that 41 Bangladeshis are among the 769 pilgrims who died on Sep 24. Many are still missing.

Kamrun Nahar, who lives in Dhaka, wept as she hugged her children at the airport. She returned Wednesday from Saudi Arabia.

“We were not very far away from the place where the disaster took place. We suddenly realised there was chaos all around. We later learnt that a lot of people had died,” she said.

Nahar said that the disaster could have been avoided if only the road had not been blocked for the passage of a Saudi prince.

Dinajpur’s Abul Hossain went to Jamarat for the ‘stoning of the devil’ ritual, passing through stampede site half an hour after it happened. 

“There was a huge crowd and the police put up barricades to block the road. Those in front were unable to proceed and those in the rear didn’t know the passage ahead had been blocked, and that led to the disaster,” he said.

Hossain said he had lost contact with his Hajj mates. He later managed to comeback with help from some Indian pilgrims.

Around two million Muslims went to perform the Hajj this year. Of them, more than 100,000 were Bangladesh nationals.

On Sept 11, when pilgrims from across the world were gathering at Makkah for the Hajj, a crane crashed into the Masjid al Haram (Grand Mosque).

The incident left 117 pilgrims, including one from Bangladesh dead.