Hajj survivors call for investigations

Dar es Salaam. Some Tanzanian pilgrims who survived the deadly stampede during this year’s hajj in Mina near Islam’s holiest city of Mecca yesterday called for formation of an independent international team to investigate the causes of the incident that killed at least 769 people and injured 934 others.

The two survivors and local Muslim scholars told reporters that they would want to see an independent team involving experts from countries whose citizens were affected by the tragedy probe the incident and take legal action against anyone proven to be responsible.

As of yesterday, about seven Tanzanian pilgrims had been confirmed dead, while 50 others were still missing.

Yesterday, Sheikh Gauth Nyambwa, a lecturer at Al-Mustapha International Muslim University, said: “We recommend that Tanzania be part of the team. We don’t want the team to be formed only by Saudi Arabia.”

They appealed to the government to satisfy itself with the safety and security at Mecca before allowing pilgrims to travel to Saudi Arabia.

“The government should be responsible for safety and security of its people there,” he said. Their call came after Sheikh Abdulmalik Almas, one of the survivors, had explained the controversy surrounding the cause of the tragedy.

Narrating, he said thousands of pilgrims were streamling to Mina, near the holy city of Mecca, for the symbolic stoning of the devil.

However, while on the way, they met with Saudi Arabia soldiers who ordered them to take a narrower way. But, there were other pilgrims coming from the opposite direction using the same way.

This was what caused the stampede, he said as some pilgrims who were weak collapsed due to exhaustation and lack of oxygen and ultimately dying. “I feel that there was negligence that needs to be investigated,” he said, adding: “After escaping the stampede, I went to the tents where my fellow Tanzanians slept. I found women crying and learned that almost 30 of our colleagues were missing. Hours later seven Tanzanians were brought as survivors,” he said. He criticized some foreign media outlets for allegedly misleading information that the pilgrims were the cause of the stampede because they were pushing each other, especially Africans, something that he described as racism.

Sheikh Almas, however, commended Tanzania ambassador to Saudi Arabia for making great follow up efforts during the entire period of the tragedy but said more needed to be done.

On the other hand they recommended Tanzania’s government to ensure that the travel agents that coordinated the trips for pilgrims had experienced staff who were also fuluent in Arabic, which is good and enables Tanzanians to have no communication problems while in Saudi Arabia.

Meanwhile, the ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation noted yesterday that it had received information of two Tanzanian pilgrims admitted in one of the hospitals in Saudi Arabia after being injured from the September 24 incident.