Iran Honors Dead Response

Iran honours dead as more hajj victims return home

Saudi emergency personnel stand near bodies of Hajj pilgrims at the site where at least 717 were killed and hundreds wounded in a stampede in Mina, near the holy city of Mecca, at the annual hajj in Saudi Arabia on September 24, 2015.
Photo: AFP

TEHRAN - Ceremonies took place across Iran on Sunday to honour citizens killed in a stampede at the hajj, as a second plane returned the bodies of 114 pilgrims from Saudi Arabia.

The latest repatriation of corpses from the giant September 24 crush came after 104 bodies were brought home on Saturday, leaving 246 of the country's 464 declared victims yet to be returned.

Iran has the highest death toll among the countries affected by the tragedy. Egypt was second worst hit with 138 dead and 96 still missing.

Thousands attended a procession for the dead in central Tehran with similar events taking place in provincial capitals.

Iran's hajj organisation chief Said Ohadi said late Saturday that 205 more bodies had been located, state television reported.

"Bodies that are clearly Iranian will be repatriated and identified in Iran," he said.

Health Minister Hassan Hashemi had said earlier that not all of the Iranian dead had yet been found and many were thought to be lying unidentified in sealed containers.

Iranian officials were trying to "repatriate more than 100 other bodies on Sunday night", interior ministry spokesman Hossein Ali Amir told state television.

Iran has accused Saudi Arabia of incompetence in its handling of safety at the hajj, further souring relations already strained by the civil war in Syria and conflict in Yemen.

Tehran has been deeply critical of the slow pace at which the Saudi authorities have identified the dead.

The kingdom says 769 pilgrims died in the tragedy, but tolls provided by foreign officials and media from 24 countries add up to well over 1,000.

Response:

I'm guessing not many Muslims are aware of the instability and probability of tragedy at the annual Hajj. This article could possibly be warning others for next year of the chance of danger. But at the same time, I sense the writer was trying to make something blatantly obvious for the reader, that this is NOT okay. He is trying to show readers the depth of the consequences of people's actions. What's also interesting is that the paper is from Singapore. I think this brings in a new and unique perspective to the situation. Singapore isn't really involved in the issue, nor have they really done anything to help. So their standpoint almost brings in a third party, saying this stampede needs to be thoroughly investigated and justice should be ordered. Personally, I believe the authorities should take control, and honor the dead with their actions afterwards. Maybe the writer was just sending this out for the good of the people, letting them have knowledge of what happened in Mina. But at the same time, there is a slight warning and caution in the diction. Therefore, maybe Muslims in the future will take an extra caution or two.

Citation:

AFP. "AisaOne20." 24 September 2015. Singapore Press Holdings Ltd.. 24 September 2015. <http://news.asiaone.com/news/world/iran-honours-dead-more-hajj-victims-return-home>