Egyptian Pilgrims’ Tent Burnt in Fire in Mina
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A tent belonging to Egyptian pilgrims caught fire during the Hajj pilgrimage on Friday in Saudi Arabia’s Mina, near Mecca, media reports said.
According to a report by the Egyptian news website Al-Youm al-Sabea, fire engines arrived on the scene and put out the fire.
The report added that the Saudi officials have refused to disclose the real casualty figures.
The tent incident came only one day after the fatal stampede in Mina in which thousands of people lost their lives, among them 131 Iranian nationals.
Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei declared 3 days of national mourning over the deaths of Muslim pilgrims.
Photographs published on the Twitter feed of the Saudi civil defense Thursday showed pilgrims lying on stretchers while emergency workers in high-visibility jackets lifted them into an ambulance.
The accident came nearly two weeks after tens of Hajj pilgrims were killed in another tragic incident in Mecca.
On September 11, a massive construction crane crashed into Mecca’s Grand Mosque in stormy weather, killing at least 107 people and injuring 201 others.
Saudi authorities have been blasted for their failure to ensure the safety of hundreds of thousands of pilgrims who converge on Mecca for Hajj every year.
The Hajj, the world’s largest annual gathering of people, has been the scene of numerous deadly stampedes, fires and riots in the past.
Safety during Hajj is a politically sensitive issue for the kingdom’s ruling Al Saud dynasty, which presents itself internationally as the custodian of its holiest places in Mecca and Medina.