Hossein Amir-Abdollahian told reporters on Thursday that a special committee had been established by the president decree to address the incident; “the committee will facilitate diplomatic communications, immediate transfer of injured pilgrims and logistical support; the Ministry of Health would also dispatch medics to Saudi Arabia through its air fleet,” he added.
“There is no clear and definitive statistics as to the number of killed and injured pilgrims during the stampede in Mina; during the last phone call to Saudi police and Army, we were informed that they had blockaded streets leading to the major avenues to facilitate transfer of injured pilgrims to hospitals,” he detailed. “Ministry of Health, the Red Crescent Society, Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization, Iranian Civil Aviation Organization, and other related government bodies are watching the development on providing health services to Iranian pilgrims,” Amir-Abdollahian asserted.
He said that Iran would only take Saudi Arabia responsible for the stampede incident in Mina; “we absolutely would not remain indifferent to Saudis irresponsible conduct and will summon their chargé d'affaires to voice our strongest protests over sheer irresponsibility and mismanagement of affairs in Mina incident,” he emphasized.
During the stampede on Thursday in Mina, so far more than 700 pilgrims have been killed and more than 1500 others have been injured. 43 Iranians are among the victims.
According to Saudi disaster officials, the incident occurred in Mina, near Mecca, at 9 am local time (0600 GMT) after two large masses of pilgrims coming down streets 204 and 223 fused together.