News / Politics

Riyadh yet to announce results of investigation into Mina crush, says Iranian official

Saturday, 25 September 2021 6:35 PM [ Last Update: Saturday, 25 September 2021 7:21 PM ]

Rescue workers carry the body of a Muslim pilgrim after a stampede at Mina, outside the holy Muslim city of Mecca, on September 24, 2015. (Photo by Reuters)

Saudi Arabia has not yet announced the results of a fact-finding committee’s probe into the 2015 Mina crush, says the head of Iran’s Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization, stressing that Tehran is still pressing Riyadh on the rights of those who lost their lives in the tragedy.

“A fact-finding committee was set up to restore the rights of Iranian pilgrims, but Saudi Arabia has not yet announced the outcome of the fact-finding committee to Iran,” Alireza Rashidian said, marking the 6th anniversary of the incident.

On September 24, 2015, thousands of people lost their lives in the deadly stampede in Mina, Saudi Arabia, after Saudi authorities blocked a road in Mina during a ritual, forcing large crowds of pilgrims to collide.

The crush was the deadliest incident in the history of the pilgrimage. Saudi Arabia reported two days after the incident that nearly 770 people were killed, but it never updated the figure.

According to an Associated Press count based on official statements from the 36 countries that lost citizens in the disaster, more than 2,400 pilgrims were killed in the incident.

The largest number of victims was from Iran. The tragedy was among a series of events that led to the severance of diplomatic relations between Tehran and Riyadh.

Rashidian said given the Mina tragedy and similar incidents in Saudi Arabia, Muslim nations should form an organization to manage the Hajj rituals so as to avoid similar incidents, but with respect to the Saudi government’s sovereignty.

2015 Mina stampede, one of deadliest Hajj pilgrimages in history

September 24, 2015, marks the day that one of the most fatal disasters broke out in a Hajj pilgrimage.

Back in September 2016, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei called on the Muslim world to reconsider the management of Hajj due to Riyadh’s mismanagement.

Also on Saturday, the head of Iran’s Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs said the Saudi government proved to be incompetent in the Mina tragedy.

“The legal aspects of these crimes must be pursued and the perpetrators must pay compensations,” Amir-Hossein Qazizadeh-Hashemi said during a meeting, which was also attended by the families of the Mina incident’s martyrs.

“The legal department of the Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs must legally record and document this crime in international forums,” Qazizadeh-Hashemi added.

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