Hajj disasters: stampedes, infernos and a bloody siege
Muslim pilgrims pray at the Grand Mosque in the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia as they arrive for the annual Hajj pilgrimage on June 22, 2023. PHOTO | SAJJAD HUSSAIN | AFP
It is Islam's holiest pilgrimage, but the hajj to Mecca in Saudi Arabia has in recent decades been plagued by deadly disasters, from stampedes to militant attacks.
Yet the last time the pilgrimage was cancelled outright was in 1798, when Napoleon Bonaparte invaded Egypt.
