Amazing, isn't it? Three hundred and forty five people dead in a stampede at a pilgrimage. But don't feel too high and mighty, after all, we do it here when Walmart opens up on Christmas Eve.
MINA, Saudi Arabia (AP) - Muslim pilgrims tripped over luggage while hurrying to ritually stone the devil Thursday, causing a crush that trampled at least 345 people to death in the latest stampede to mar Islam's annual hajj.
Saudi authorities have sought for years to ease the flow of increasingly mammoth crowds, but the tragedy underlined the difficulty in managing one of the biggest religious events in the world, which this time drew more than 2.5 million pilgrims.
The deaths on the final day of stoning came a week after another hajj disaster - the Jan. 5 collapse of a building being used as a pilgrims' hotel that killed 76 people in Mecca.
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