Fury as Saudi's hajj chief blames African pilgrims for stampede that killed 700

In what was the worst disaster in a quarter-century to strike the annual event, 769 people died two days ago when the stampede broke out in Mina, about three miles from Mecca, during the symbolic stoning of the devil ritual.

The inflammatory comments come as authorities were heavily criticised for a perceived lapse in safety measures at what is one of the world's largest pilgrimages.

Adding further offence, Saudi Arabia's top religious leader has now stated the disaster was beyond human control.

According to various news outlets, Saudi-owned al-Arabiya TV reported that the head of the central Hajj committee, Prince Khaled al-Faisal, blamed the stampede on 'some pilgrims with African nationalities'.

The comment provoked a storm of condemnation, with critics describing it as 'more obscene than racism' while others said authorities should focus on determining what went wrong, rather than blaming ethnic groups.

Meanwhile, Sheikh Abdul Aziz al-Sheikh has told Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef: 'You are not responsible for what happened', the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.

He added: 'As for the things that humans cannot control, you are not blamed for them. Fate and destiny are inevitable.'

Mohammed chairs the Saudi hajj committee and has ordered an investigation into Thursday's stampede during a symbolic stoning of the devil ritual by hundreds of thousands of pilgrims at Jamarat Bridge in Mina, just outside the holy city of Mecca.

King Salman, whose official title is 'Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques' in Mecca and Medina, also ordered 'a revision' of how the hajj is organised.

Today groups of pilgrims were moving from early morning towards Jamarat Bridge for the last of three stoning days. The interior ministry has said it assigned 100,000 police to secure the hajj and manage crowds.

But pilgrims blamed the stampede on police road closures and poor management of the flow of hundreds of thousands of pilgrims in searing temperatures.

Abdullah al-Sheikh, chairman of the Shura Council, an appointed body which advises the government, stressed that pilgrims must stick to 'the rules and regulations taken by the security personnel... In doing so they protect their lives, their security and facilitate their performing of the rituals.'

In comments carried late Friday by SPA, the Shura chairman called on citizens and Muslims to ignore 'the biased campaigns carried out by the enemies of this pure country, to question the great efforts exerted by the kingdom to serve the holy sites, their construction and expansion, and to serve the visitors and pilgrims.'

Riyadh's regional rival Iran said 131 of its nationals were among the victims, and yesterday stepped up its criticism of the kingdom, demanding that affected countries have a role in the Saudi investigation into the disaster.

'Saudi Arabia is incapable of organising the pilgrimage,' said Ayatollah Mohammad Emami Kashani, leading the main weekly prayers in Tehran. 'The running of the hajj must be handed over to Islamic states,' he said.

Several African countries confirmed deaths in the stampede, as did India, Indonesia, Pakistan and the Netherlands. Moroccan media gave 87 nationals killed.

(dailymail.co.uk)