TIME: Almanac 1993/TIME Almanac 1993.iso/time/071690/0716008.000

Text File | 1992-08-28 | 4KB | 81 lines

                                                                                WORLD, Page 33

SAUDI ARABIA

A Tragic Ascension to Paradise


More than 1,400 pilgrims perish in a tunnel stampede


    For Muslim pilgrims, a high point of the hajj to Mecca is
the trek to Jamarat al `Akaba in Mina, one of the three stoning
points of Satan. Each passing pilgrim must cast pebbles at this
rock pillar in a ritual that symbolizes the faithful's struggle
against evil. At 10 a.m. last Monday the believers suddenly
faced a more earthly trial.

    As throngs of the faithful, clad in traditional terry-cloth
robes, crossed a pedestrian bridge in Mina, a railing gave way
under the pressure. Seven worshipers plunged 8 meters, smashing
into even greater waves of people at the mouth of a
550-meter-long tunnel dug through a mountain to ease the
pietists' journey. The rain of bodies brought foot traffic to
a halt, but at the tunnel's opposite end other hajjis, unaware
of the human blockade, continued to shove forward. Soon the
passageway was jammed with some 50,000 people, many times more
than its capacity. Next, according to survivors, for reasons
still unexplained, the lights in the tunnel went out and the
ventilation system failed -- on a day when the temperature
outside was a searing 112 degrees.

    Then came mad panic. In the scramble to escape, hundreds
were crushed under the frantic feet of their co-religionists;
others collapsed in the airless heat. "It was terrible," an
Arab survivor told Saudi television. "When one stumbled, scores
trampled him and hundreds fell on top of them." According to
Islamic teachings, to die while on the hajj ensures immediate
ascension to heaven. On that day 1,426 Muslims earned the
privilege.

    In the face of such a ghastly tragedy, Saudi Arabia's
response sounded shockingly cavalier. Officials initially
dismissed reports of 1,400 killed as exaggerations, while King
Fahd called the calamity "God's will." Said he: "Had they not
died there, they would have died elsewhere." The unapologetic
monarch suggested that the pilgrims themselves were to blame
for not abiding by "official instructions." Later the government
conceded on the death toll, but the King, in a radio address,
clung to his claim of inculpability, asking, "Can anyone stop
death?"

    Certainly, managing the hajj is a formidable exercise.
Despite Saudi efforts to regulate where and how believers
travel, some, particularly the elderly, perish each year
attempting to complete the long hikes in the desert sun
required by the pilgrimage, which is a must for any Muslim who
is physically and financially able to make it. In recent years
the month-long hajj season has become more unmanageable as the
Islamic revival and the increased affordability of air tickets
have swelled the annual ranks of pilgrims to 2 million or
more. To handle the deluge, the Saudi government is investing
$15 billion  in infrastructure projects, including the ill-fated
bridge and tunnel.

    The centuries-old rift between Islam's Sunni branch, which
includes the royal family and most other Saudis, and the
Shi`ites, dominated by the Iranians, has also generated
trouble. Three years ago, 402 pilgrims died when Saudi security
forces fired on Iranian-led protesters in Mecca. Last year two
bombings, which Saudi officials say were instigated by Tehran,
killed one and wounded 16 others. Newspapers in Iran as well
as the pro-Tehran Party of God in Lebanon responded to last
week's mishap by blasting the Saudis and repeating their demand
that King Fahd's exclusive custodianship over Islam's holiest
places be revoked. Even in the midst of disaster, there was
no peace in Allah's house.