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CNN Sunday Morning
Nearly 250 Muslim Pilgrims Killed in Hajj Stampede
Aired February 01, 2004 - 09:31 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: A deadly stampede in Saudi Arabia tops our headlines at this hour.
In Saudi Arabia, the government health ministry is reporting nearly 250 Muslim pilgrims have been killed, trampled in a stampede at the Hajj in Mecca. Joining us on the telephone with further details is CNN producer Adil Bradlow, live from the scene in Mecca.
Adil, what happened? Do we know how this was triggered?
ADIL BRADLOW, CNN PRODUCER: Well, it appears around 9:00 this morning, when several hundreds of thousands of pilgrims were moving towards an area on the plains of Mina known as the Jemarat (ph) to ritualistically pelt a stone pillar with stones, the crowds seemed to get out of control. And 244 people were killed with a further 244 injured, seven of those are still believed to be in a serious condition.
SAVIDGE: And Adil, obviously when dealing with so many people, such huge crowds that number in the millions, I mean, the Saudis prepare for this, don't they? I mean, not for tragedy, but try to prevent it?
BRADLOW: Well, the Hajj minister Iyad Madani said that basically they take all the precautions that they can in situations like this. But that in the end, it is God's will that something like this happens. He did, however, point out that they have, in previous years, suffered from the similar problems, and every time they try to prepare for it, the scale of the Hajj just makes it almost impossible to make sure that things like this don't happen.
SAVIDGE: And is there anything else that they are worried about now, as Hajj comes to an end?
BRADLOW: Well, there's another two days of ritual stoning still to go. As I understand it, the police will be limiting the time in which the crowd will be able to continue with the ritualistic pelting. So they'll be keeping a very close eye on the situation and hopefully will have a beefed up security presence around the area in which the stampede took place today.
SAVIDGE: Adil Bradlow, CNN producer, worked with him many times. Thank you very much for joining on us on the telephone, Adil.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired February 1, 2004 - 09:31 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: A deadly stampede in Saudi Arabia tops our headlines at this hour.
In Saudi Arabia, the government health ministry is reporting nearly 250 Muslim pilgrims have been killed, trampled in a stampede at the Hajj in Mecca. Joining us on the telephone with further details is CNN producer Adil Bradlow, live from the scene in Mecca.
Adil, what happened? Do we know how this was triggered?
ADIL BRADLOW, CNN PRODUCER: Well, it appears around 9:00 this morning, when several hundreds of thousands of pilgrims were moving towards an area on the plains of Mina known as the Jemarat (ph) to ritualistically pelt a stone pillar with stones, the crowds seemed to get out of control. And 244 people were killed with a further 244 injured, seven of those are still believed to be in a serious condition.
SAVIDGE: And Adil, obviously when dealing with so many people, such huge crowds that number in the millions, I mean, the Saudis prepare for this, don't they? I mean, not for tragedy, but try to prevent it?
BRADLOW: Well, the Hajj minister Iyad Madani said that basically they take all the precautions that they can in situations like this. But that in the end, it is God's will that something like this happens. He did, however, point out that they have, in previous years, suffered from the similar problems, and every time they try to prepare for it, the scale of the Hajj just makes it almost impossible to make sure that things like this don't happen.
SAVIDGE: And is there anything else that they are worried about now, as Hajj comes to an end?
BRADLOW: Well, there's another two days of ritual stoning still to go. As I understand it, the police will be limiting the time in which the crowd will be able to continue with the ritualistic pelting. So they'll be keeping a very close eye on the situation and hopefully will have a beefed up security presence around the area in which the stampede took place today.
SAVIDGE: Adil Bradlow, CNN producer, worked with him many times. Thank you very much for joining on us on the telephone, Adil.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
