Kind of yes. Since Hajj brings 2-3 million people together, it was a minor crowd crush.
The major crowd crushes have resulted in deaths in double or even triple digits (in 2015).
Saudi Government has largely streamlined the movement of pilgrims, so I don’t know where this crowd crush happened.
That said, I totally blame the government for inadequate response to the heat wave. While the article shares that the authorities distributed water and ice cream, it didn’t help much in peak times. When I (a pilgrim) was returning on Jun 17, the crowd was barely moving and I could not reach the water at all since it was on the right end of the road, and I was on left, from where it’s borderline impossible to move to the right without putting your life at risk.
Plus, I don’t know who got the ice creams as I didn’t see any.
minor?!?
Kind of yes. Since Hajj brings 2-3 million people together, it was a minor crowd crush.
The major crowd crushes have resulted in deaths in double or even triple digits (in 2015).
Saudi Government has largely streamlined the movement of pilgrims, so I don’t know where this crowd crush happened.
That said, I totally blame the government for inadequate response to the heat wave. While the article shares that the authorities distributed water and ice cream, it didn’t help much in peak times. When I (a pilgrim) was returning on Jun 17, the crowd was barely moving and I could not reach the water at all since it was on the right end of the road, and I was on left, from where it’s borderline impossible to move to the right without putting your life at risk.
Plus, I don’t know who got the ice creams as I didn’t see any.
I understand it is relative, but I personally would class any deaths as a major incident.