No Malaysians injured in Makkah stampede

Only four people were injured in a stampede near the Kaabah in Makkah yesterday, and none of them are Malaysians.

Lembaga Tabung Haji (TH) chairman, Datuk Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim said he had received the report from TH which also stated that no building had collapsed in the incident.

"Yesterday, the Kaabah was being cleaned, so its door was open. As a result, the curious crowd surged forward to look at the process, causing the stampede.

"I hope Malaysians do not believe the incorrect reports disseminated by the social media on the incident."

He said this to reporters after attending the final briefing on Barisan Nasional's (BN) preparations for the Teluk Intan by-election which was chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

He was earlier asked to comment on the incident in Makkah, including claims that part of the Masjidil Haram (Grand Mosque) had collapsed.

On the closed-door briefing, Abdul Azeez said it covered, among others, the tasks of the party election machinery in the hours before campaigning stopped at midnight.

"They were also asked to vote early and then to continue assisting the voters," he said, adding that the briefing which took over an hour was also attended by representatives of BN component parties.