Hajj: Major incidents

 

A stampede at Mina in 2006 left 345 pilgrims dead and hundreds more injured [GALLO/GETTY]

A timeline of major incidents and accidents during the Hajj pilgrimage, one of the five pillars of Islam, held in Saudi Arabia every year.

1979 – About 250 armed Saudi Arabian members of a religious sect take over the Grand Mosque in Mecca. More than 100 fighters are killed, along with 127 Saudi troops, during a two-week siege.

In 1979, armed men took control of the Grand Mosque in Mecca [File: AFP]

1987 – Around 400 people, mainly Iranian Shia pilgrims, are killed in clashes with Saudi security forces during anti-Western protests in Mecca.

1989 – One pilgrim is killed and 16 wounded after a bomb explodes near the grand mosque. Saudi Arabia later executes 16 foreigners found guilty of planting the bombs.

1990 – Stampede in a tunnel at Mecca causes the deaths of 1,426 pilgrims, most from Indonesia and Turkey.

1994 – Stampede near Jamarat Bridge in Mina, east of Mecca, kills 270.

1997 – A fire kills 343 pilgrims and injures 1500 at camp in Mina.

1998 – Stampede near Jamarat Bridge kills 119 when people fall off an underpass.

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2001 – Stampede near Jamarat Bridge kills 35.

2003 – Stampede near Jamarat Bridge kills 14 people.

2004 – A 27-minute stampede near Jamarat Bridge kills at least 251 during the ritual knowns as the stoning of the devil.

2006 – Stampede kills 345, the highest number in 16 years, with 600 also injured. At least 76 people are also killed when a hostel collapses.