"Inna lillaahi.. 220 Jemaah Haji Tewas Terinjak-injak di Mina
At Least 220 People are Crushed to Death in Stampede during Muslim Hajj Pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia
Editor : Ismail Gani
Translator : Novita Cahyadi
SEDIKITNYA 220 orang tewas terinjak-injak dan sekitar 450 terluka dari salah satu insiden terburuk dalam beberapa tahun terakhir pada musim haji di Arab Saudi.
Otoritas di Arab Saudi mengatakan operasi penyelamatan dilakukan pihak terkait setelah insiden di Mina, yang didatangi dua juta jemaah haji untuk menunaikan rukun haji sesuai perintah Allah SWT.
Namun belum diketahui apa yang memicu insiden tersebut.
Para jemaah hji berkumpul di Mina di luar Mekkah, Kamis untuk melaksanakan jumroh melempar batu pada salah satu dinding sebagai perwujudan Syaiton, simbol dari 'merajam iblis' yang menandai ritual terakhir dari syarat menunaikan ibadah haji, seperti dilansir MailOnline.
Sekitar 1,5 miliar Muslim di seluruh dunia merayakan Hari Raya Idul Adha, hari raya terpenting dalam kalender Islam.
Ibadah haji adalah salah satu dari Rukun Islam dan setiap Muslim yang mampu wajib melaksanakan setidaknya sekali dalam seumur hidup.
Sebelumnya, ibadah haji selama bertahun-tahun diwarnai insiden jemaah yang berdesak-desakan dan kebakaran, tetapi sebagian besar kejadian tersebut dapat diminimalisir setelah hampir satu dekade otoritas setempat melakukan upaya perbaikan dan peningkatan keselamatan.
Persiapan haji tahun ini juga diwarnai insiden pada 11 September ketika tiang derek (crane) rubuh di Masjidil Haram, tempat suci umat Islam, yang menewaskan 109 orang.
Pada Januari 2006, 364 jamaah tewas dalam desak-desakan saat melontar jumrah di Mina.
AT LEAST 220 people have been crushed to death and around 450 hurt in a stampede of pilgrims in one of the worst incidents in years to hit the Muslim Hajj in Saudi Arabia.
Saudi Arabia's civil defence service said rescue operations were under way after the stampede in Mina, where almost two million pilgrims were taking part in the last major rite of the Hajj.
It was not immediately clear what had caused the stampede.
Pilgrims had converged on Mina just outside Mecca on Thursday to throw pebbles at one of three walls representing Satan, the symbolic 'stoning of the devil' that marks the last day of the event.
The world's 1.5billion Muslims were marking Eid al-Adha, the Feast of Sacrifice, the most important holiday of the Islamic calendar.
The Hajj is among the five pillars of Islam and every capable Muslim must perform it at least once in a lifetime.
In the past, the pilgrimage was for years marred by stampedes and fires, but it had been largely incident-free for nearly a decade following safety improvements.
Preparations for this year's Hajj were marred when on September 11 a construction crane collapsed at Mecca's Grand Mosque, Islam's holiest site, killing 109 people.
In January 2006, 364 pilgrims were killed in a stampede during the stoning ritual in Mina.
