Hajj Stampede Kills Hundreds

This year's Hajj had been primarily without incident until today. A hotel collapse early in the week was tragic but seemingly an isolated event. The stampede today, unfortunately, is a tragedy that has been repeated several times in recent years. The Saudi government has plans to do major construction in the area, which is supposed to begin after this Hajj. It is desperately needed in order to control the flow of mass numbers of people. Today was the third and final day of the Jamarat (stoning of the devil), and apparently some luggage got in the way and caused people to trip and then stampede.

Read more about this incident and discuss the Hajj in the About.com Islam Forum.