Pilgrims Depart Mecca
Hundreds of thousands of Muslim pilgrims headed Saturday to the tomb of the Prophet Mohammed, their mattresses, cloth bags and suitcases stacked atop convoys of buses.
The journey to Medina is not a required part of the annual pilgrimage, or hajj, but many Muslims take the opportunity to visit a site considered the second most holy in Islam.
Other pilgrims arrived at crowded terminals for trips home, leaving behind the dead and wounded of a stampede that broke out Thursday on the Mina plain near Mecca. Doctors said 180 were killed and twice as many injured. The official death toll was 118.
Saudi officials and foreign diplomats tried Saturday to identify the victims before they were buried at Mecca, Islam's holiest site. But many of the victims' plastic ID tags were cut loose from their wrists in the crush.
Thursday's stampede broke out when pilgrims were on a bridge leading to pillars that symbolize Satan's temptations. They surged forward hoping to fulfill their duty to "stone the devil," throwing seven chickpea-size pebbles at three columns.
Only half the victims had been identified, said a Saudi official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Another Saudi official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said making the task more difficult was an influx of 25,000 patients being treated in hospitals for sunstroke, food poisoning, and other illnesses.
According to Muslim tradition, pilgrims who die in Mecca during the hajj are buried in cemeteries there. In Muslim belief, those who die during the hajj go to heaven.
An estimated 2.3 million pilgrims from 100 countries took part in this year's pilgrimage, some of the biggest numbers ever.
Pilgrims left Mecca on Saturday in several thousand vehicles in two directions: to the Mosque of the Prophet in Medina or the Red Sea city of Jiddah to board ships or planes home.
With mattresses, suitcases and other personal belongings stacked high above their vehicles, about 600,000 pilgrims crammed into buses and set out in convoys for the 200-mile trip north to Medina.
There, they pray in the Mosque of the Prophet, where Mohammed is buried. The prophet's tomb in on the spot where he died 14 centuries ago, in what was his house.
In Jiddah, 30 miles west of Mecca, the hajj terminal at King Abdul-Aziz's International airport roared with activity as jetliners landed and took off, carrying pilgrims to all corners of the world. Other pilgrims hunted for souvenirs or sipped bitter coffee or sweet tea as they waited for flights.
Transport planes loaded meat from the estimated 500 tons of slaughtered animals for shipment to poor Islamic countries. Several hundred thousand sheep, camels, calves and goats were slaughtered during sacrifices on Eid al-Adha, which culminates the hajj.
Ships carrying the less fortunate pilgrims began leaving Jiddah port on the Red Sea for home.
Saudi officials warned all pigrims that they must leave the oil-rich kingdom after completing the hajj or face fines and jail terms.
Written by Tarek Al-Issawi
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