Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today expressed his condolences to the families of the 700 killed in a stampede outside the Saudi city of Mecca and hoped to be carried out research to avoid This tipe of tragedies from recurring
"The secretary general transfers its sincere condolences to the families of the victims and expresses its condolences to all Governments concerned," said his spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, in his daily press conference.
Dujarric said the UN expected to carry out an investigation "to ensure that such incidents do not recur," while stressing the difficulties of organizing such crowds.
At least 717 people were killed and 863 were injured in the stampede caused by agglomeration and the massive influx of pilgrims participating in the Muslim rite of the pilgrimage, the Saudi Civil Defense reported.
The cause of the tragedy was the increase in the flow of pilgrims and the sudden influx of a large number of them to the area where they were preparing to perform a ritual, according to Civil Defense.
The faithful were going from their camps to where they should meet today with the ritual stoning of three pillars symbolizing the temptations of the devil, during the third day of the pilgrimage.
A total of three million people participate these days in the important religious rite, which is one of the five pillars of Islam by the "shahada" (profession of faith), almsgiving, prayer and fasting in the month of Ramadan .