Ali Gharsan and Hatim Al-Masoudi Okaz/Saudi Gazette
MAKKAH – Eighteen pilgrims were rushed to different hospitals in the holy sites while another 18 were treated for minor injuries by paramedics when a pushing-and-shoving accident took place on Friday at Al-Mashair Train station in Arafat, according to a statement issued by the Saudi Red Crescent Authority. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal, Emir of Makkah and the Chairman of the Central Haj Committee, ordered that a committee be formed to investigate the causes that delayed a train and resulted in pushing and shoving of passengers at terminals 1 and 3 inside the train station. Preliminary investigations indicate that the incident took place when more than 150,000 pilgrims with no tickets stormed the station, a source told Okaz/Saudi Gazette. Most of them were sitting outside the station waiting for the train to come, the source added. The railway authority tried to organize the movement of this huge crowd of pilgrims, according to the source. The authority ended up transporting 680,000 pilgrims when the capacity of the train was only 530,000 passengers. The source also said that a Tawafa establishment is under investigation for links to the accident. The committee formed by the Emir is working to find out the real causes of the incident. Violators will be penalized, according to Prince Khaled's orders. The same source said the train did not break down as some social networking sites claimed. Dr. Habib Zainul Abideen, from the Ministry of Municipal and Rural Affairs, blamed the pilgrims who did not have tickets for the accident. “Those pilgrims insisted on riding the train without tickets and stormed the station. The station authority had to open the gates for them in order to absorb this gigantic number, over 150,000 pilgrims.” He refuted reports which claimed that some of the gates had been damaged saying the gates were designed with smart technology and there were security guards. Prince Mansour Bin Miteb, Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs, directed that a committee be formed to study the incident and suggest solutions to this problem so that it should not happen again next year. Fahd Abo Tarboosh, director of Al-Mashair Train Station, emphasized that the problem of pilgrims who sit at the entrances of the station in Mina must be addressed. “A catastrophe would happen if this problem is not addressed immediately.” He blamed the pushing-and-shoving accident on this problem. Osama Filali, chairman of the national committee of Haj and Umrah, blamed those who operate the Al-Mashair train and station and criticized the way they had been running the station. “I hold them fully responsible for the accident. There were only few trips and most of them are not scheduled. Besides, many pathways were blocked inside the station, making things difficult.”
