Both Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley and Opposition leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar have expressed their sorrow over the hundreds of deaths during yesterday's Hajj stampede in Mecca.
Rowley made the comments during the Day of Prayer and Thanksgiving, which took place at the Grand Stand, Queen’s Park Savannah on Republic Day. (See page A6)
The PM called on all citizens to observe this day.
Saying T&T had a lot be thankful for Rowley also called on citizens to be grateful for their everyday blessings.
“ As I left home this morning (yesterday) the news was that 400 persons had been killed in Mecca. But the time I got here the numbers had risen to 700 and God knows how many more,” Rowley said.
Persad-Bissessar, who also expressed sorrow over the incident, said she too was saddened.
“I am deeply saddened to learn of the tragedy that unfolded today in Saudi Arabia resulting in the deaths of more than 700 Muslim pilgrims,” Persad-Bissessar said.
According to international media reports there was a stampede during one of the last rituals of the Hajj season that killed hundreds and injured many others.
The fatality figure is expected to keep growing.
Tragedy struck as pilgrims were engaged in the ritual known as “stoning the devil” in the tent city of Mina, about two miles from Mecca, Islam's holiest city.
Persad-Bissessar said it was always devastating to learn of such incidents but especially as the Muslim community celebrated Eid Al Adha, marking the end of the Hajj.
“I pray for the families of the victims of this unfortunate incident. I also pray that our pilgrims who have gone to Saudi Arabia for the annual Hajj are safe and would soon return home,” Persad-Bissessar said.
She added that the tragedy occurred as T&T was praying collectively for peace and harmony as the country celebrated its 39th anniversary of becoming a republic.
“As you offer prayers today I urge you to think of the victims of this tragedy and offer prayers on their behalf so their souls would find peace as they reunite with the Creator.
“While they might have been strangers to us, we must recognise they were our brothers and sisters, God’s children, meeting to pray for a better world for all humanity,” Persad-Bissessar said.
Imam: Stampedes can happen easily
Maulana Sheraz Ali, Imam of the Nur-E-Islam Mosque in El Socorro said most of the groups who had organised local pilgrims for Hajj had so far reported that no T&T nationals were hurt or killed in the stampede.
He said most pilgrims would have undergone some type of Hajj training in their respective country before the journey.
“But often this is only centered on how to perform the rituals and not how to deal with a mass of more than a million people moving at the same time. With so many people in one place trying to move around, stampedes can happen easily, sometimes set off by a loud noise that people might mistake for an explosion,” Ali said.
He added that although there was usually security in the form of hundreds of officers and guards, with so many different people speaking different languages, sometimes instructions could be misunderstood and cause confusion or even result in hundreds of people to start moving in another direction.