Alwaght – NY Times says some allies of Saudi Arabia downplayed their death toll in Mina Catastrophe and warned their media against any criticism on Saudi management on the issue.
In an article about the last year catastrophe in Saudi Arabia, the US newspaper narrates a witness account of the stampede.
On 24 September 2016 thousands of Hajis (pilgrims) were caught in a crowed collapse on their way to Ramy al-Jamarat, symbolic stoning of Satan, and the resulting stampede caused an unratified number of people -from 2411 by AP to 4173 by Iranian media- to lose their lives due to suffocation and heat exhaustion.
Hajj is an Islamic ritual that every Muslim should perform it at least once in his life if physically and financially capable. During the ritual, Hajis denounce Satan by stoning a statue as his symbol.
Saudi Arabia declared the highly unsupported death toll of 769 people just two days after the tragedy and failed to update the number since.
Iran tolerated the highest fatality with 469 people dead among the 38 countries that declared their independent count of the casualties.
Some poor Muslim countries and some regional friends of the Kingdom withheld or underestimated their toll to save Riyadh from pressuring criticism or receive financial aids.
“Pakistan, a close ally of Saudi Arabia and large recipient of Saudi aid, has played down the Pakistani death toll and warned the local news media to avoid criticizing hajj management” the article writes.
Referring to the way Saudi authorities managed the tragedy, described by Iran as “Saudi mismanagement and criminal negligence”, the paper writes “The authorities in Indonesia, which sends more pilgrims to the hajj than any other country and lost nearly 130 citizens in the disaster, also expressed frustration with the Saudi response, saying they were not given full access to victims and hospitals for days”.
“The Muslim Public Affairs Council, an American policy advocacy group, released a statement calling for an independent investigation, and transparency from Saudi Arabia. The group also suggested that the Saudi authorities relinquish management of the hajj to international control, an idea the Saudis have rejected” the Paper adds.
