The stampede near the holy city of Mecca has left more than 700 people dead during Muslim hajj. Muslims around the world have expressed anger with the Saudi Arabian government’s handling of the Muslim feast bearing in mind that it was just the latest in a number of crowd-control disasters that have left hundreds of thousands of victims dead.

On its part, the Saudi government pointed to pilgrims who”move without respecting timetables”. Crowd control experts describe the event as a “progressive crowd collapse” that left people asphyxiated rather than a stampede where people run. Saudi monarch, King Salman, said he has asked for a swift investigation into the tragedy and ordered a review of the region’s plans for hajj in the wake of the disaster.

The tragedy happened as a result of crowd capacity exceeding the road’s ability to accomodate so many people. Panic ensued after two groups of pilgrims collided at the intersection of two narrow streets. People were climbing over each other just to breathe whereas they rushed over the incapacitated, elderly and weak just to save their lives in a deadly wave of people. The area was so tightly packed that people lost clothes that were torn off in the scramble.

Apart from around 717 dead, there were also around 850 injured, making the disaster one of the worst of its kind in the last quarter of a century. Rescue teams worked into the evening to evacuate the people who were injured in the frantic scramble as well as dead bodies.