
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 4, 1990                   TAG: 9007040072
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-6   EDITION: HOLIDAY 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: MECCA, SAUDI ARABIA                                LENGTH: Short

PILGRIMS' FALL CAUSED STAMPEDE, OFFICIAL SAYS

A stampede that killed more than 1,400 Moslem pilgrims inside a crowded pedestrian tunnel was touched off when seven people tumbled off a bridge outside, the interior minister said Tuesday.

Prince Nayef put the death toll at 1,426, making it the worst tragedy at the annual pilgrimage, or Hajj, in recent history. In previous years, the celebration was marred by terrorist attacks and riots.

The air-conditioned tunnel, connecting Mecca with the tent city at Mina, was packed "multiple times beyond its capacity, with some 50,000 people inside," he said. The temperature outside hit 112 degrees on Monday.

"The fall of the seven [from a bridge above the mouth of the tunnel] spread terror, and the tremendous throngs of the pilgrims caused them all to tumble onto each other," Prince Nayef said on state-run television.

Witnesses said the panic began after power inside the tunnel was cut off. Most victims suffocated or were trampled in the ensuing stampede.

A Sudanese survivor said: "We were stuck inside unable to move back or forth. Rescue men were throwing sacks of ice-cold water which we grabbed to overcome the heat and thirst . . . there was no ventilation and the number of Hajjis in the tunnel was growing bigger by the second."

by CNB