Muslim pilgrims somberly resumed the final rites of hajj on Friday after more than 700 people suffocated or were trampled to death when two waves of pilgrims collided in the deadliest disaster to strike the annual pilgrimage in a quarter-century.
An Iranian worshipper holds a poster of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and late revolutionary founder Ayatollah Khomeini, at top left of the poster as she chant slogans while attending an anti-Saudi protest rally on Thursday, after their Friday prayer service in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Sept. 25, 2015. Thousands of Iranian worshippers have marched in Tehran after Friday prayers to denounce the “incompetency” of Saudi Arabia in handling the annual hajj pilgrimage. The protest came a day after at least 719 pilgrims died during a crush on the outskirts of the holy city of Mecca. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
MINA, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Saudi Arabia faced new accusations of neglect Friday in the hajj disaster that killed over 700 people, the second tragedy at this year’s pilgrimage overseen by the kingdom’s rulers who base their legitimacy in part on protecting Islam’s holiest sites.
