Some really good news to cheer everyone here up!

[Leongsam]

Over 2,400 killed in September Saudi hajj stampede, crush

8:00 PM Thursday Dec 10, 2015

The AP figures establish the Sept. 24 crush at Mina as the deadliest in the history of the annual pilgrimage. Photo / Getty Images


The September stampede during the hajj in Saudi Arabia killed at least 2,411 pilgrims, a new Associated Press count shows, three times the number of deaths acknowledged by the kingdom three months later.

The AP figures establish the Sept. 24 crush at Mina as the deadliest in the history of the annual pilgrimage. It occurred just weeks after a fatal crane collapse in Mecca.

Saudi Arabia rebuffed criticism from its regional Shiite rival Iran and efforts by other countries to join a probe into the deaths. And while King Salman ordered an investigation into the tragedy almost immediately, few details have been made public since.

The AP count is based on state media reports and officials' comments from 36 of the over 180 countries that sent citizens to the hajj. Hundreds of pilgrims remain missing. The official Saudi toll of 769 people killed has not changed since Sept. 26, and officials there have yet to address the discrepancy.

The state-run Saudi Press Agency has not mentioned the investigation into the disaster since Oct. 19, when it reported that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, who is also the kingdom's interior minister, was "reassured on the progress of the investigations." The crown prince is the next in line to the throne and any blame cast on the Interior Ministry, which oversees safety during the hajj, could reflect negatively on him.

The ruling Al Saud family maintains its major influence in the Muslim world through its oil wealth and its management of Islam's holiest sites. Like Saudi monarchs before him, King Salman has taken the title of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques.

Authorities have said the Mina crush and stampede occurred when two waves of pilgrims converged on a narrow road, suffocating or trampling to death those caught in the disaster. Saudi Arabia has spent billions of dollars on crowd control and safety measures for those attending the annual five-day pilgrimage, required of all able-bodied Muslims once in their life, but the sheer number of participants makes ensuring their safety difficult.

The hajj this year drew some 2 million pilgrims, though in recent years it has drawn more than 3 million without any major incidents.

Iran was most affected by the disaster, according to the AP count, with 464 Iranian pilgrims killed. Mali said it lost 305 people, while Nigeria lost 274 and 190 pilgrims from Egypt were killed.

Others include Bangladesh with 137 pilgrims killed; Indonesia with 129; India with 120; Cameroon with 103; Pakistan with 102; Niger with 92; Senegal with 61; Ethiopia with 53; Ivory Coast with 52; Benin with 50; Algeria with 46; Chad with 43; Morocco with 42; Sudan with 30; Tanzania with 25; Burkina Faso with 22; Kenya with 12; Somalia with 10; Ghana, Tunisia and Turkey each with seven; Libya and Myanmar with six apiece; China with four; Afghanistan, Djibouti, the Gambia and Jordan with two each; and Lebanon, Malaysia, the Philippines and Sri Lanka each with one.

The second deadliest incident at hajj was a 1990 stampede that killed 1,426 people. The Sept. 11 crane collapse at Mecca's Grand Mosque, which preceded the Mina disaster, killed 111 people.
- AP

Copyright ©2015, NZME. Publishing Limited

 

[wikiphile]

Only 2,400??? There's not even a fraction of the 1,000,000,000 pork eaters out there!

 

[Devil Within]

That is far too few. When it's 240,000, then it's starting of a good news.

 

[harimau]

The one and only true God sacrifice His Son for us so that we might be spared from death.

But for false idols, men and women must be sacrificed for the gods..

Still haven't wake up?

CHIANG KAI-SHEK.
Why He Became a Chistian.
Although the large Chinese newspapers In Shanghai, still under strict military censor-ship, have not printed a line on the subject, the matter of General Chiang Kai-shek's con-version to Christianity has constituted an ab-sorbing subject of conversation in both Chinese and foreign circles, says the Shanghai cor-respondent of the "Manchester Guardian "-von the foreign newspapers In Shanghai, although not subject to the censorship, have printed practically nothing on the subject apart from the original announcement on October 24 that General Chiang had, on the afternoon of the previous day, became a member of the Allen Men Church, established many years ago in Shanghai by American missionaries of the Southern Methodist Church According to an Interview with the Chinese pastor, the Rev Z T Kaung, General Chiang Kai-shek attended a religious service at the home of his mother-in-law, Mrs K. T. Soong, and there accepted the Christian faith
and was given the regulation baptism, following which there were prayers and the singing of hymns. The absence of an official statement, combined with the lack of any account in the Chinese newspapers, has naturally led to much
speculation, some Interpreting it as a political move, while others claim that It was purely a personal family matter which had been under consideration since General Chiang's marriage to a Christian wife, Miss Mel-ling Goong, in 1927 Whatever the motive, there is no questioning the fact that General Chiang's decision to Join a Christian church this text founded by foreign missionaries was a courageous action, particularly in view of the widespread prevalence of anti-Christian and anti-religious propaganda, which exists in the Kuomintang and National Government to such an extent that all mission schools have been forced In recent months either to delete their religious courses from the curriculum or
to place the courses on the voluntary lists According to Mr Yui, General Chiang returned to Nanking at the conclusion of the recent civil war in a deeply religious frame of mind, due largely to the heavy losses suffered by his troops la the campaign.

 

[Froggy]

Don't understand, why good news, why happy?

 

[Leongsam]

Only 2,400??? There's not even a fraction of the 1,000,000,000 pork eaters out there!

Look at the positives it's 20 times the number that the Muslims killed in Paris.

 

[JohnTan]

Good news that Muslims are dead? This is highly insensitive. Little wonder why Muslims around the world are constantly offended. It's thanks to Islamophobes like you!

 

[Devil Within]

Good news that Muslims are dead? This is highly insensitive. Little wonder why Muslims around the world are constantly offended. It's thanks to Islamophobes like you!

Can't blame non-Muslim when it's muslim pigs like you who are doing all the killings and murders.

 

[syed putra]

Can't blame non-Muslim when it's muslim pigs like you who are doing all the killings and murders.

muslims produce more than 2400 babies a second. more than enough to replace those killed in mecca.

 

[JohnTan]

Can't blame non-Muslim when it's muslim pigs like you who are doing all the killings and murders.

I am not a Muslim. I am their translator.

 

[Devil Within]

I am not a Muslim. I am their translator.

Yes, you are translation Muslim pigs.

 

[Scrooball (clone)]

Look at the positives it's 20 times the number that the Muslims killed in Paris.

I guess u have a point