Stampede kills more than 700 in Saudi Arabia

At least 700 people have been killed in a stampede at the annual Hajj pilgrimage, Saudi Arabia's civil defence directorate said.

More than 800 were injured in the incident at Mina, on the outskirts of the holy city of Mecca, which occurred as two million pilgrims were taking part in the Hajj's last major rite.

Mina is where pilgrims carry out a symbolic stoning of the devil by throwing pebbles against three stone walls. It also houses more than 160,000 tents where pilgrims spend the night during the pilgrimage.

The Saudi civil defence directorate said on Twitter that 4,000 personnel had been sent to the scene of Thursday's stampede, along with more than 220 emergency and rescue units. The injured are being taken to four hospitals in the area.

“IT TOOK PLACE IN THE STREETS”

The civil defence directorate did not say what caused the stampede.

However, Al Jazeera English's Basma Atassi in Mina reported that it took place in a street between pilgrim camps.

"The street where it happened is named Street 204. This stampede did not happen at the site of the 'stoning of the devil' ritual, which was happening today.

"During and after the stampede the pilgrims continued to flock into Mina to perform the devil stoning ritual."

The head of the Central Hajj Committee, Prince Khaled al-Faisal, blamed the stampede on "some pilgrims from African nationalities," Saudi-owned al-Arabiya TV channel reported.

BBC Hausa Service correspondent Tchima Illa Issoufou, who was with some of those affected in Mina, said there were many pilgrims from Niger among the dead.

Al Jazeera's Omar Alsaleh, reporting from Mecca, said the number of deaths may rise.

"This is only the initial number ... The Hajj season was already overshadowed by the crane accident that killed 107 people and wounded more than 200," Alsaleh said, adding: "The area has turned to a big massive construction site to allow more pilgrims to visit Mecca during Hajj.

Preparations for the Hajj were marred when a crane collapsed at Mecca's Grand Mosque this month, killing 109 people.

NOT THE FIRST TIME

Saudi authorities take extensive precautions to ensure the security of the Hajj and the safety of pilgrims. But tragedies are not uncommon.

The stampede was the deadliest at the Hajj since 2006, when more than 360 pilgrims were killed in the same area.

The day before the 2006 Hajj began, an eight-story building being used as a hostel near the Grand Mosque in Mecca collapsed, killing at least 73 peop

The Hajj is the fifth and final pillar of Islam. It is the journey that every able-bodied adult Muslim must undertake at least once in their lives if they can afford it.