Bangladesh’s Mina stampede survivors narrate harrowing experience

Even after returning alive from the Hajj, many Bangladeshis who have narrowly escaped death cannot still get over the nightmarish experience of the Sep 24 stampede in Saudi Arabia’s Mina.

Memories of innumerable deaths in front of their eyes are still haunting them.

“Like many others I, too, had suffered a heatstroke that day. I had even fallen down amidst all the pushing and jostling. But fortunately I did not fall unconscious. Had I fainted, I, too, would have perished like many others,” recalls Saidul Shamim Dewan Rabbi.

After their only child 5-year old ‘Ramisha’ died of blood cancer, Rabbi along with his wife Farjana Sultana Sohana went to perform the Hajj to “dedicate themselves to Allah”.

bdnews24.com spoke to the couple at their Shantinagar residence in Dhaka on Thursday evening.

Leaving behind Sohana, who was very tired from the long journey, at the tent, Rabbi on the ill-fated Sep 24 joined the others to perform the ‘stoning of the devil’ ritual at Jamarat.

“We were going towards Jamarat from Muzdalifah. Over the previous two days and nights, we did not get enough sleep and food. So, we were not in a position to exert ourselves,” Rabbi said.

“Suddenly, the caravan got stuck. No one was able to move. I was on the right side of the road, but pushing and shoving moved me towards left. Millions of people got scattered. None seemed to be behaving sensibly.”

“At one point of time I fell to the ground. In a desperate bid to save myself, I trampled over the others to get back onto my feet. I saw several bodies lying around where I fell.”

Rabbi said he had also suffered heatstroke on that day as mercury rose to 49 degrees Celsius.

“Pilgrims from Iran, after taking me to their tent, gave me plenty of water to drink and to sprinkle over my body. I even wallowed in the mud formed near the tent,” he said.

Sohana got to know about the accident at the tent.

“After an uncle from the nearby tent told me about the mishap, I started calling him (Rabbi) frantically. But I was unable to reach him. His mobile was switched off,” she said.

“I was crying and praying for his safety.”

“Even when he called me up after sometime and told me that he was safe and sound, I was still concerned,” she added.

Seven Hajjis from their hotel had gone missing after the incident, Rabbi said.

So far, 67 Bangladeshi pilgrims have been reported dead in Mina stampede. But the identities of all the deceased and injured are not yet known.

Officials of Bangladesh’s Hajj Mission in Saudi Arabia said 109 Bangladeshis were still missing.

Though Saudi authorities put the death toll at 769, Iran claims thousands had died in the stampede.

When asked, what caused the stampede, Rabbi said, “I heard that two gates were closed down as a Saudi prince had come to perform the stoning of the devil ritual in a convoy. A huge crowd pressure was created as people were allowed to pass through only one gate and that resulted in the stampede.”

Some Iranian media, too, blamed the motorcade of the Saudi prince for the tragedy. But Saudi Arabia denied the allegation and said it was a group of Iranian pilgrims who had actually triggered the stampede.