'You appreciate the fragility of life'

Thousands of Muslims gathered this morning across New Zealand in prayer to celebrate Eid al-Adha, the biggest religious holiday in the Islamic world.

But what is normally a time for celebration was bittersweet, following the news that between 700 and 1000 pilgrims had been killed in a crush outside the Muslim holy city of Mecca.

It is the second tragedy of its kind this year; earlier this month a crane collapsed into the Grand Mosque and killed 107 worshippers, less than two weeks before the five-day Hajj began.

Hajj: Previous tragedies

• 2006: 364 pilgrims die in a crush at the foot of Jamarat Bridge in Mina
• 1997: 340 pilgrims are killed when fire fuelled by high winds sweeps through Mina's tent city
• 1994: 270 pilgrims die in a stampede during the stoning ritual
• 1990: 1,426 pilgrims, mainly Asian, die in a stampede in an overcrowded tunnel leading to holy sites
• 1987: 402 people die when security forces break up an anti-US demonstration by Iranian pilgrims

Hundreds of New Zealanders perform the Hajj each year, including Auckland-based Cam Russell, who took part in 2010.

He said that Mecca was very built-up and commercialised, which created jams of people between the various pilgrimage locations. Mr Russell said he could easily imagine how the crush occurred.

"Looking at photos as to where this tragic event [happened] is no surprise to me... The corridor between the architecturally amazing edifice known as the Jamaraat Bridge and the equally amazing Mina tent city [is] a ridiculous bottleneck, as there are temporary-looking expensive restaurants encroaching on this corridor. No way can pilgrims be blamed for a 'stampede' here."

Despite the build-up, he said he felt very safe. "Being in a crowd of three million, close contact is inevitable. Except for the squeeze at the Mina chokepoint, I felt absolutely safe, more so than at Christmas in the Park."

The Saudi king has called for a safety review and said there is a need to "improve the level of organisation and management of movement", but Mr Russell said he didn't believe the fault lay with the staff.

"The Hajj ministry do a fantastic job organising the movement of pilgrims between the various pilgrimage locations. I had the pleasure of meeting some of these officials and I fear the blame will be dumped on them."

Though there was no such crisis while Mr Russell was in Mecca, he said that some people had died of natural causes performing the Hajj while he was there.

"You see very, very old men and women, and I saw a few bodies being raced into the Masjid al Haram - but I cannot imagine a more 'exalted' funeral service."

Mr Russell said the experience had been a sublime one, and worth taking the risk for.

"I have never experienced any moment that comes close to it," he said.

Dr Zain Ali, of Auckland's Islamic Studies Research Unit, said the biggest issue from a safety perspective was the huge number of people there, including many New Zealanders. He knows people who are presently in Mecca, but hasn't been able to get in touch with them to confirm that they are safe.

"The way to think about is to think about how many people are there - a conservative estimate is two to three million, but a more realistic one is closer to five million, from all over the world, converging. Imagine those people trying to get to one place."

He said that the Saudi authorities' safety measures were ultra-sophisticated, including the latest computer-modelling, thousands of personnel on-site, and hundreds and hundreds of cameras.

"The Saudi authorities do quite a bit to make sure things like this don't happen - it reflects badly on them as hosts. Within the Arab tradition and the Muslim tradition, they have specific responsibilities as hosts, and have to be seen to be doing the right thing.

"They don't spare any expense [and] their emergency response procedures are all first class - but how do you control two to five million people? How do you do that? And that's one of the risks of this - a very small risk, like one person tripping over, a very small event with a very large number of people can have devastating consequences."

But he said that the Hajj was a religious obligation, and no event, however serious, was likely to put people off in future years.

"There's never been an event that I know of that has put people off going to Hajj. It is a tragedy, and people are shocked at this, and worried, but also the other religious point of view is that they've passed away in the Holy Land, on the way to fulfilling a religious obligation.

"In purely religious terms, to pass away in the Holy Land - not like this, but in general terms - is not a bad thing."

Dr Ali said in his view there was little more that the Saudi authorities could do to prevent similar disasters in the years ahead.

"It's just the sheer numbers of people. And it's one of those challenges is that it's a challenging event to stage, or to host.

"It's a tragedy - and it makes you appreciate the fragility of life."

- RNZ/BBC