stampede again at the haj

sad news. once again, it happened. a stampede during the last day of the annual haj pilgrimage in mecca. over 300 people were dead.

a luggage was the cause of it!
(picture taken from bernama)
a saudi spokesman said:
The accident occurred “because of the luggage that fell and led to a rush at the eastern entrance of the Jamarat bridge,”

last year 251 pilgirms were trampled to death, and in the previous years:
2003 – 14 pilgrims, including six women, were killed in a stampede during the first day of the stoning ritual, and 35 died in 2001, while in 1998 the hajj saw 118 killed and more than 180 hurt at mina.

The deadliest toll of the pilgrimage was in July 1990 when 1,426 pilgrims were trampled or asphyxiated to death in a stampede in a tunnel, also in Mina.

2001 it happened, break of a year, no incident, then 2003 it happened, 2004 it happened and now 2005 it happened again.

since it happened every year, i wonder why didn’t the authorities do something about it? i know it will be kind of difficult to control such a large crowd but at least something should be done.

can’t something like a ‘queue’ be set up? i mean like construct a passageway leading to the stone, which allow only a small number to enter. i don’t know lah i have no idea. others might have better idea. oh wait, i see at the BBC report, it was stated that after the crush in 2004, barriers and stewards were addes to improve safety. at least, they did something but apparently not enough.

i feel so sad for the victims. they were there to perform the haj, something they believe strongly in and yet this had to happen to them.