Gulfstream: 13 February 2003

Hajj scaling problems: “The most hazardous part of the hajj is the stoning of the pillars at Mina, which is where Tuesday’s catastrophe took place. The ceremony, in which Muslims symbolically rebuke the devil by throwing 21 pebbles at three pillars, has changed little over the past 14 centuries. What has changed is the number of participants.at least 2 million people a year now partake, according to unofficial estimates. That’s thought to be a fourfold increase over the number of pilgrims who made the trip in 1970. The pillars, of course, have remained the same size, making access more difficult.”