Saudi Religious Leader Exonerates Prince As Death Toll Hits 769

 The Saudi royals are in charge of the hajj

The Saudi royals are in charge of the hajj

Saudi Arabia’s religious leader, Sheikh Abdul Aziz al-Sheikh, has exonerated Crown Prince Mohammed bn Nayef over the deadly Thursday stampede as the death toll rose to 769 yesterday.
Saudi Arabia is facing fierce criticisms over its handling of pilgrims’ safety.
During a meeting in Mina yesterday, the grand mufti told Prince Nayef: “You are not responsible for what happened”, according to the Saudi Press Agency.
Nayef is Saudi’s minister of interior and chairs the country’s hajj committee.
‘’As for the things that humans cannot control, you are not blamed for them. Fate and destiny are inevitable”, the sheikh told Nayef. Saudi minister of health, Khalid al-Falih, said the death toll from the stampede had risen to 769 and those injured to 934, in a press conference.

Iranians protest in Tehran at the weekend, over the Hajj stampede that affected a large number of their citizens in Saudi Arabia.
Iranians protest in Tehran at the weekend, over the Hajj stampede that affected a large number of their citizens in Saudi Arabia.

But pilgrims blamed the stampede on security road closures and poor management of the flow of hundreds of thousands of pilgrims in soaring temperatures.
Former House of Representatives member, Dr Haruna Yerima, said in Makkah that the tragedy could have been avoided if not for the authorities’ “arrogance and bias” towards non-Arabs.
“Let it be clear that we are here to worship, not to commit suicide. The tragedy was avoidable if the road was not closed for a certain Saudi nobility”, he said.
He said poor crowd control management, inefficient and incompetent manpower and authorities’ disdain were responsible for the tragedy.
“Nigeria lost some of its best brains in this tragedy. The Saudi health minister’s blaming of the tragedy on Africans is more worrisome and callous,’ he added.

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