MINA: Crown Prince Mohammed bin Naif, deputy premier and minister of interior, has ordered a high-level investigation into the stampede at the Haj pilgrimage that left at least 717 dead and 863 injured on Thursday, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said.
During a meeting of the Haj Higher Committee, which he chairs, the crown prince said the findings of the investigation will be submitted to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman, “who will take appropriate measures” in response, SPA said.
Thursday’s tragedy comes on the heels of another one, in which 108 people were killed when a massive construction crane collapsed on Makkah’s Grand Mosque on September 11 as thousands were gathering for the Haj.
It has has become the second worst in a number of tragedies to strike the pilgrimage, surpassed only by a tunnel stampede in Mina on July 2, 1990, which killed 1,426 pilgrims, mostly from Asia.
Earlier Thursday, Health Minister Khaled Al-Faleh promised that there would be a rapid and transparent investigation of the stampede, which he blamed on undisciplined pilgrims not following instructions.
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