February 05, 2004

CAUSE SUGGESTED

The Jamrat tragedy, in which 251 people died, may have been caused by hair. The Arab News reports:

Mohammed Rafiq Ahmed, from India, claimed that many pilgrims had slipped and fallen after stepping on piles of shorn hair which had been left on the ground (shaving the head after stoning the devil at Jamrat is part of the Haj ritual). He said that the hair made the ground slippery so pilgrims tripped on it and fell, which produced a chain reaction of people falling which resulted in the 251 deaths.

According to the same item, some aspects of the Haj ritual weren’t completely holy:

Tahera Ahsan, an Indian housewife, said that in the confusion that followed the security breakdown, some women became victims of pickpockets.

Posted by Tim Blair at February 5, 2004 01:25 AM
Comments

> Tahera Ahsan, an Indian housewife, said that in the confusion that followed the security breakdown, some women became victims of pickpockets.

At least it's not like the Tokyo subway.

Posted by: Ron Hardin at February 5, 2004 at 03:15 AM

Hey, I slipped on hair once and 251 people died. It could happen to any of us.

Posted by: Mike G at February 5, 2004 at 04:35 AM

According to the documentary about the Haj on Compass earlier in the week, the shaving of the head takes place *before* the stoning of the devil ritual.

Having watched said doco, I can only be surprised that more people aren't killed in similar circumstances each year.

Posted by: James at February 5, 2004 at 08:18 AM

The hairdressing salon toll is horrendous.

Posted by: ilibcc at February 5, 2004 at 09:40 AM

In fact, it's worse, they're all like, holding scissors.

Posted by: ilibcc at February 5, 2004 at 09:41 AM

What a tragedy. I've wondered why some sort of *very strict* crowd control hasn't been put into place. There have been other years when many people have died during this event. I would think they could have a strict crowd control system while still allowing the people to enjoy their pilgrimage.

Do they believe if a pilgrim dies while performing the Haj ritual, the pilgrim automatically enters the Muslim Paradise? (Just curious.)

Posted by: Chris Josephson at February 5, 2004 at 09:52 AM

Chris
I think according to the Compass program on Sunday nite it stated that old people do attend the haj and that if you die while doing it you go straight to paradise.

Posted by: dino at February 5, 2004 at 10:55 AM

With hair that dangerous, no wonder it must be covered lest it emits dangerous rays.

Posted by: Andjam at February 5, 2004 at 09:42 PM