Irish Muslims set to return safely from hajj

A group of over 100 Irish Muslim pilgrims are set to return safely to Ireland tomorrow following their pilgramage to Mecca.

A group of over 100 Irish Muslim pilgrims are set to return safely to Ireland tomorrow following their pilgramage to Mecca.

This year's hajj saw the worst tragedy to beset the sacred event in more than a decade.

At least 362 pilgrims were crushed to death last Thursday during a stoning ritual on the last day of the hajj.

Saudi officials said the pilgrims were crushed at the eastern entrance of Mena's disaster-prone Jamarat bridge as they jostled to perform the stoning between noon and sunset in Mena, a narrow valley near the holy city of Mecca.

READ MORE

"Sadly we witnessed the tragic deaths of several hundred pilgrims during the Hajj pilgrimage this year; however we are thankful for the safe return of all the pilgrims from Dublin," a spokeswoman for the Islamic Cultural Centre of Ireland said.

According to the centre at least 123 pilgrims from Ireland joined over 2.5 million Muslims for pilgrimage this year.

The haj is a duty for every able-bodied Muslim at least once in a lifetime. Many pilgrims transport their belongings from site to site, hampering the flow of pilgrims.