Iran demands Saudi apology over deaths
TEHRAN: Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has demanded Saudi Arabia apologise for the stampede in Mina that killed over 700 pilgrims. Saudi Arabia deployed large numbers of security reinforcements as pilgrims performed the final rituals of a Haj marred by double tragedy, with the death toll from a stampede rising to 769. The kingdom’s leaders have ordered an inquiry into the disaster – the deadliest to strike the annual Muslim pilgrimage in a quarter-century – and a “revision” of its organisation, with the deaths raising tensions with regional rival Iran as well. “Instead of passing the buck and playing a blame game, the Saudis should accept their responsibility and apologise to the world’s Muslims and the bereaved families,” Khamenei said in comments reported by the official IRNA news agency. Dozens of emergency workers were seen on one level of Jamarat Bridge, a five-storey structure in Mina where pilgrims ritually stone the devil, and on which hundreds of thousands were converging when Thursday’s stampede occurred nearby. Many more patrolled the network of roads leading to the structure, which resembles a parking garage. The interior ministry has said it assigned 100,000 police to secure the Haj and manage crowds. But pilgrims blamed the stampede on police road closures and poor management of the throng.
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