Hajj crowd-pressure must be eased to avoid tragedy

Will Knight in New Scientist:

Structural redesign and subtle crowd management techniques could reduce the risk of further tragedies during the stone throwing ritual of the Hajj pilgrimage, experts say.

362 people were killed on Thursday in a stampede that occurred as pilgrims tried to reach the three pillars that symbolise the devil in Mina, Saudi Arabia. More than 2.5 million people had converged on Mina, just east of Mecca, for the Hajj pilgrimage.

The stoning ritual is especially perilous because more than a million pilgrims may congregate at the pillars after prayer time. Those at the front will also often jostle one another in an effort to hit one of the three pillars with stones.

Officials say the tragedy occurred on Thursday when pilgrims tripped over baggage left at the entrance to the Jamarat Bridge – an upper level providing access to the pillars. As those behind rushed forward, the fallen were killed in the fatal crush.

But experts say the sheer scale of the stoning ritual makes it inherently dangerous. "There's a huge risk and potential for accidents whenever you have so many people in a tightly confined space," says Keith Still, an expert on crowd behaviour at UK company Crowd Dynamics. "There's a limit to what can be done."

More here.