Makkah Stampede: Iranians violated the rules which caused stampede

Jeddah: An Iranian official confirmed that a group of 300 Iranian pilgrims came from the opposite direction which caused stampede.

Iranians who violated the rules started moving from Muzdalifa straight to Jamarat instead of waiting in their camps till their turn. Three hundred Iranian pilgrims, instead of going to their camps, started moving directly from Muzdalifa to Jamarat. Then they moved in the opposite direction on Street number 203 where the incident took place.

As per the guidelines, the group was supposed to wait in their camps for their turn of stone-pelting ritual at Jamarat. Instead, this group started returning in the opposite direction which coincided with the movement of other group which resulted in the tragedy.

Camera in Jamarat also confirmed that the Iranian group was responsible for the stampede. It confirmed that the Iranian group did not wait and decided to move in the time slot allotted for Turkish pilgrims to come out.

Sources said that there is a set of rules and plan for performing Hajj which is implemented with the help of security agencies and the Interior Ministry. If the group does not follow, then it increases the chances of incidents which happened when 300 Iranian pilgrims who did not abide by the schedule and tried to utilize the time allotted to other nationals.