No Malaysians involved in haj pilgrims stampede in Mina

No Malaysians are involved in the haj pilgrims stampede in Mina during the 'stoning of the devil' ritual today, said Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Dr Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki.

He said the scene of the stampede did not involve the route of the Malaysian pilgrims to perform the 'stoning of the devil' ritual.

"The schedule for the haj pilgrims 'stoning of the devil' ritual is fixed at after 5.30 pm and 8 pm tonight," he said at a media conference here today.

He said the distance between the scene of the stampede in Mina and the zone for the Malaysian pilgrims' tents was about three to four kilometres away.

Subsequently eight existing haj pilgrims check points set up by Tabung Haji in Mina will be further upgraded to control and monitoring level for pilgrims in the country.

"Tabung Haji however is still doing the headcount at the Malaysian haj pilgrims' tents," he said.

This is the second such stampede incident during the haj since 2006 when at least 346 pilgrims were killed as they attempted to perform the 'stoning of the devil' ritual at Jamarat.

More than three million pilgrims from around the world, including over 22,000 Malaysians, are now in the Holy Land to perform the Haj.

However the majority of the haj pilgrims including from Malaysia were still in Mina to perform the 'stoning of the devil' ritual after an overnight stay in Muzdalifah last night.

The pilgrims perform the 'stoning of the devil' ritual on the 11th, 12th and 13th day of the Muslim month of Zulhijjah.

PHOTO GALLERY: Stampede in Mina