Mina disaster eyewitness: Saudis did nothing to save us for couple of hours!

An eyewitness and one of the survivors of the accident by the name of Haj Hamid Shaker Nijad explains

In the worst hajj disaster in a quarter century, two huge waves of pilgrims converged Thursday on a street near a religious site in Mina, and around 2,000 people were crushed, while so many other were injured.

An eyewitness and one of the survivors of the accident by the name of Haj Hamid Shaker Nijad explains his story. 

“On our way to Mina to perform the ritual of the Stoning of the Devil, we stopped because it was getting very crowded and we couldn’t move. All people were standing shoulder to shoulder; therefore we were not able to move forward or backward. There was no water to drink, no oxygen to breathe and the weather was extremely hot.Gradually, a wave of fear began to rise in all people; we were feeling the fear of death. At first, we were thinking that the way should be open soon, but there were high pressures on our chests and we have no oxygen to breath. The fear of death had caused some pilgrims to show certain reactions like shouting and pushing trying to escape, but there was no way out. We were so near death that we made ourselves ready to die. The strong were able to control themselves but the vulnerable gave up. At that time, some pilgrims decided to save their lives, so they started pushing and climbing on top of other people andthis lead to many pilgrims gettingstepped on and crushed to death under the feet. There was no place to fall; so if one falls, many would fall on him. I saw someone who was so crushed that his organs had spilled out of his body.”

Najid stressed that “It was Saudi Arabia’s fault; they caused this tragedy by blocking the ways. They also did nothing to save usfor 3-4 hours.If there was urgent medical care, the number of victims could’ve been greatly decreased.”