Saudi Arabia A Tragic Ascension to Paradise

For Muslim pilgrims, a high point of the hajj to Mecca is the trek to Jamarat al 'Akaba in Mina, one of the three stoning points of Satan. Each passing pilgrim must cast pebbles at this rock pillar in a ritual that symbolizes the faithful's struggle against evil. At 10 a.m. last Monday the believers suddenly faced a more earthly trial.

As throngs of the faithful, clad in traditional terry-cloth robes, crossed a pedestrian bridge in Mina, a railing gave way under the pressure. Seven worshipers plunged 8 meters, smashing into even greater waves of people at the mouth of a 550-meter-long tunnel dug through a mountain to ease the pietists' journey. The rain of bodies brought foot traffic to a halt, but at the tunnel's opposite end other hajjis, unaware of the human blockade, continued to shove forward. Soon the passageway was jammed with some 50,000 people, many times more than its capacity. Next, according to survivors, for reasons still unexplained, the lights in the tunnel went out and the ventilation system failed -- on a day when the temperature outside was a searing 44 degrees.

Then came mad panic. In the scramble to escape, hundreds were crushed under the frantic feet of their co-religionists; others collapsed in the airless heat. "It was terrible," an Arab survivor told Saudi television. "When one stumbled, scores trampled him and hundreds fell on top of them." According to Islamic teachings, to die while on the hajj ensures immediate ascension to heaven. On that day 1,426 Muslims earned the privilege.

In the face of such a ghastly tragedy, Saudi Arabia's response sounded shockingly cavalier. Officials initially dismissed reports of 1,400 killed as exaggerations, while King Fahd called the calamity "God's will." Said he: "Had they not died there, they would have died elsewhere." The unapologetic monarch suggested that the pilgrims themselves were to blame for not abiding by "official instructions." Later the government conceded on the death toll, but the King, in a radio address, clung to his claim of inculpability, asking, "Can anyone stop death?"

Certainly, managing the hajj is a formidable exercise. Despite Saudi efforts to regulate where and how believers travel, some, particularly the elderly, perish each year attempting to complete the long hikes in the desert sun required by the pilgrimage, which is a must for any Muslim who is physically and financially able to make it. In recent years the month-long hajj season has become more unmanageable as the Islamic revival and the increased affordability of air tickets have swelled the annual ranks of pilgrims to 2 million or more. To handle the deluge, the Saudi government is investing $15 billion in infrastructure projects, including the ill-fated bridge and tunnel.

The centuries-old rift between Islam's Sunni branch, which includes the royal family and most other Saudis, and the Shi'ites, dominated by the Iranians, has also generated trouble. Three years ago, 402 pilgrims died when Saudi security forces fired on Iranian-led protesters in Mecca. Last year two bombings, which Saudi officials say were instigated by Tehran, killed one and wounded 16 others. Newspapers in Iran as well as the pro-Tehran Party of God in Lebanon responded to last week's mishap by blasting the Saudis and repeating their demand that King Fahd's exclusive custodianship over Islam's holiest places be revoked. Even in the midst of disaster, there was no peace in Allah's house.