Mecca Stampede Death Toll Rises to 717

At least 717 people have been killed and hundreds more injured outside Mecca in a stampede Thursday, as hundreds of thousands of Muslims participated in a ritual in the city of Mina.

Over two million Muslims are in Mecca on pilgrimage this week, celebrating the Feast of the Sacrifice, Eid al-Adha. The incident occurred during the “stoning of the devil” ritual, in which Muslims throw stones at a pillar, symbolizing the devil.

The disaster was the worst such stampede in 25 years, since back in July 1990 when 1,426 Muslim pilgrims were killed in a tunnel collapse near Mecca.

Officials are trying to determine how the stampede originated. According to Mansour al-Turki, head of the Saudi General Security Forces, it was a matter of “panic” as people crossed a bridge where the stones are hurled from.

"The trampling begins with a small number of people falling, followed by a state of panic and an attempt to escape the crowd, which leads to an increasing number of victims," news agencies quoted him as saying.

A Saudi minister responded by blaming "undisciplined pilgrims" for the stampede.

Fifteen Iranian nationals were killed in the stampede, prompting the Islamic Republic to accuse Saudi Arabia of safety errors.