The "devil" is an Ice-Cube fan...
I can just hear "him" rapping along to "I Gotta Say, It Was a Good Day" while checking up on this report from www.msnbc.com :
MSNBC News Services
Updated: 10:02 a.m. ET Jan. 12, 2006
MECCA, Saudi Arabia - At least 110 people were killed and more than 1,000 injured in a stoning ritual at the hajj pilgrimage in Mecca on Thursday, medical officials said.
A doctor with the Saudi Red Crescent said he had heard reports that up to 300 people may have been killed. The doctor was identified only by his nametag, Dr. Abbasi.
Separately, a medic told Reuters, “It’s likely to be around 300 in the end.”
Footage from the scene showed lines of dead laid out on stretchers on the pavement and covered with sheets.
Earlier, journalists counted at least 50 bodies lined up on the ground and covered in white shrouds. Some were being placed on trucks by medics.
The stampede broke out as tens of thousands of pilgrims filed past al-Jamarat, a series of three pillars representing the devil that the faithful pelt with stones to purge themselves of sin.
The ritual -- in its final day -- has seen deadly stampedes in the past, including one in 1990 that killed 1,426 people and another in February 2004 that killed 244.
Maj. Gen. Mansour al-Turki, a ministry spokesman, said the stampede happened after some pieces of luggage dropped from moving buses.
The pilgrims apparently tripped over them as they were rushing to the pillars, he said. Al-Turki said there were deaths but could not immediately give an exact number.
'People were piling on each other'
"I saw people moving and suddenly I heard crying, shouting, wailing. I looked around and people were piling on each other. They started pulling dead people from the crowd," said Abdullah Pulig, an Indian street cleaner who was working nearby.
Ahmed Mustafa, an Egyptian pilgrim, said he saw bodies taken away in refrigerator trucks.
"There must be dozens of people dead," he said.
Mina General Hospital, a small facility several hundred yards from the site, was filled with injured, and some victims were sent to hospitals in Mecca and Riyadh, said Ismail Abdul-Zaher, a doctor at the hospital.
Ambulances and police cars streamed into the area, and security forces tried to move pilgrims away from part of the site, though thousands continued with the ritual.
Construction proves ineffective
The pillars are located on a large pedestrian bridge, the width of an eight-lane highway over the desert plain of Mina outside the holy city of Mecca. A number of ramps lead up the bridge to give pilgrims access to the site, and the stampede occurred at the base of one of the ramps.
The stampede took place despite Saudi efforts to improve traffic for the massive crowds of pilgrims at the site, where all 2.5 million pilgrims participating in the annual hajj must pass, move from pillar to pillar to throw their stones, then exit.
Saudi authorities recently widened the bridge and built extra ramps and increased the time pilgrims can carry out the rite -- traditionally done between sunrise and sunset.
The score so far:
Devil 2000+
"Believers" 0
MSNBC News Services
Updated: 10:02 a.m. ET Jan. 12, 2006
MECCA, Saudi Arabia - At least 110 people were killed and more than 1,000 injured in a stoning ritual at the hajj pilgrimage in Mecca on Thursday, medical officials said.
A doctor with the Saudi Red Crescent said he had heard reports that up to 300 people may have been killed. The doctor was identified only by his nametag, Dr. Abbasi.
Separately, a medic told Reuters, “It’s likely to be around 300 in the end.”
Footage from the scene showed lines of dead laid out on stretchers on the pavement and covered with sheets.
Earlier, journalists counted at least 50 bodies lined up on the ground and covered in white shrouds. Some were being placed on trucks by medics.
The stampede broke out as tens of thousands of pilgrims filed past al-Jamarat, a series of three pillars representing the devil that the faithful pelt with stones to purge themselves of sin.
The ritual -- in its final day -- has seen deadly stampedes in the past, including one in 1990 that killed 1,426 people and another in February 2004 that killed 244.
Maj. Gen. Mansour al-Turki, a ministry spokesman, said the stampede happened after some pieces of luggage dropped from moving buses.
The pilgrims apparently tripped over them as they were rushing to the pillars, he said. Al-Turki said there were deaths but could not immediately give an exact number.
'People were piling on each other'
"I saw people moving and suddenly I heard crying, shouting, wailing. I looked around and people were piling on each other. They started pulling dead people from the crowd," said Abdullah Pulig, an Indian street cleaner who was working nearby.
Ahmed Mustafa, an Egyptian pilgrim, said he saw bodies taken away in refrigerator trucks.
"There must be dozens of people dead," he said.
Mina General Hospital, a small facility several hundred yards from the site, was filled with injured, and some victims were sent to hospitals in Mecca and Riyadh, said Ismail Abdul-Zaher, a doctor at the hospital.
Ambulances and police cars streamed into the area, and security forces tried to move pilgrims away from part of the site, though thousands continued with the ritual.
Construction proves ineffective
The pillars are located on a large pedestrian bridge, the width of an eight-lane highway over the desert plain of Mina outside the holy city of Mecca. A number of ramps lead up the bridge to give pilgrims access to the site, and the stampede occurred at the base of one of the ramps.
The stampede took place despite Saudi efforts to improve traffic for the massive crowds of pilgrims at the site, where all 2.5 million pilgrims participating in the annual hajj must pass, move from pillar to pillar to throw their stones, then exit.
Saudi authorities recently widened the bridge and built extra ramps and increased the time pilgrims can carry out the rite -- traditionally done between sunrise and sunset.
The score so far:
Devil 2000+
"Believers" 0
posted by Firehawk at 10:20 AM
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