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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-34346449

Please tell me we care about this news. When I woke up this morning they were worried the deaths were in triple figures- now it's over 700 dead, with at least as many injured,and I doubt that's the final total. That's a horrendous death count.

That's just awful, it's hard to imagine a human stampede. and that has apparently happened more often.

It's awful to think if everyone would just stop moving nothing would happen.

At any rate, large groups of people sca me even more now.

it's impossible to stop moving because of the domino effect that happens in crowds that size.

i hope this was just a freak accident and not white nationalist terrorists.

It happens all the time there. I think this time they were rushing to throw rocks at what they thougbt was the devil.
But its sad it happens so often.
Hajj: Previous tragedies
2006: 364 pilgrims die in a crush at foot of Jamarat Bridge in Mina
1997: 340 pilgrims are killed when fire fuelled by high winds sweeps through Mina's tent city
1994: 270 pilgrims die in a stampede during the stoning ritual
1990: 1,426 pilgrims, mainly Asian, die in a stampede in an overcrowded tunnel leading to holy sites
1987: 402 people die when security forces break up an anti-US demonstration by Iranian pilgrims
Timeline: Deadliest stampedes

They must have been bigots.

Originally posted by Bashar Teg
it's impossible to stop moving because of the domino effect that happens in crowds that size.

i hope this was just a freak accident and not white nationalist terrorists.

You're an idiot.

Crazy, seems they started flipping out for no apparent reason other than too many people.

Originally posted by Robtard
Crazy, seems they started flipping out for no apparent reason other than too many people.
They were running to throw rocks at the devil.

I don't even understand why this happened...why did they start freaking out? Someone said too many people, but that makes no sense since doesn't this pilgrimage happen every year?

It is awful and it is something that was totally avoidable as well. Sometimes I just don't get why people behave the way they do.

Originally posted by Surtur
I don't even understand why this happened...why did they start freaking out? Someone said too many people, but that makes no sense since doesn't this pilgrimage happen every year?

It is awful and it is something that was totally avoidable as well. Sometimes I just don't get why people behave the way they do.
I just told you. They were running to stone the devil. Im not making that up unfortunately.

They love stoning shit.

I guess Ol' Scratch gets around.

Yes but as Surtur says, they do that every year.

It's the Saudi authorities at fault here. Look at their commentary on what happened:

"The Saudi health minister, Khaled al-Falih, said the crush occurred because many pilgrims moved "without respecting the timetables" established by authorities."

and

"Saudi-owned al-Arabiya TV reported that the head of the central Hajj committee, Prince Khaled al-Faisal, blamed the stampede on "some pilgrims with African nationalities"."

Great, blame it on the foreigners. But the first quote is actually the more troubling one, because it's ascribing a major crowd control disaster to some sort of failure to follow timetable instructions.

Crowds are DIFFICULT, anywhere in the world. Crowd management is a difficult skill and needs a lot of effort by authorities. You don't vaguely hope people follow timetables- you MAKE SURE nothing like this can happen. Health & Safety rules with crowds seem tedious and jobsworthy but they are there precisely to stop this sort of thing.

Clearly the Saudis are not currently up to the job of organising it all and so this was bound to happen sometime. They had damn well better improve things.

Who ran over all those people, was it other people or animals?

LP is just being a turd again. The story makes it seem like it happened when too many people gathered in one specific spot, those coming from and going to the stone-throwing section. Still odd, someone had to initially flip out to make hundreds start stampeding.

The Saudis are reckless and incapable of handling this thing. I can't imagine what that place smells like.

Yeah, better nuke them so this can't happen again.

Originally posted by long pig
The Saudis are reckless and incapable of handling this thing. I can't imagine what that place smells like.

It says they spend billions to make sure this did not happen again, but it did.

Originally posted by Time-Immemorial
It says they spend billions to make sure this did not happen again, but it did.
Saudis are like a bunch of inbred hillbillies who won the lottery. They don't know what they are doing.

Originally posted by long pig
Saudis are like a bunch of inbred hillbillies who won the lottery. They don't know what they are doing.

Hence why they want us to fight and drill their oil for them.

Your assessment is correct.

Originally posted by Time-Immemorial
Hence why they want us to fight and drill their oil for them.

Your assessment is correct.
They were scratching around in the sand hiding from the thunder until they were shown how to drill for and sale oil.

Horrible tragedy. This happens too often; the Saudis need to do more to prevent this from happening

They spent billions, how about they stop this silly tradition.

Or once again they prove their religions traditions is more valuable then their actual lives.

How many virgins do Muslims get when they get stampeded to death due to stupidity?

Originally posted by Time-Immemorial
Who ran over all those people, was it other people or animals?

It was people.

The word stampede though always brings up a strange memory for me. It brings up memories of me trying to play the "Lion King" video game on Sega, and the stampede level was really hard.