Request for investigation into Saudi Arabia's Hajj stampede

To the honorable United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon,

 On 24 September 2015, during the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Mina, Mecca, as  result of a public stampede more than 1,000 pilgrims citizens of Pakistan, Iran, Egypt, and… have died, and more than 800 have been reported injured, and many are reported missing. These numbers are increasing on a daily basis and the witnesses on the scene claim the numbers are being under-reported. However, the government of Saudi Arabia, who manages the Mecca pilgrimage and its logistics, has been unresponsive to family of the missing and hasn’t held any responsibility for the disastrous event.

We, the family, friends of the victims and the missing, request that UN initiates investigations into the cause of this tragedy, where the responsibility lies, and how it can be prevented in future.

Also, we request that government of Saudi Arabia cooperates with the heads of the pilgrimage tours and releases information on identity and conditions of the victims of this stampede. This info is currently being withheld and families are uncertain about the lives of their loved ones.

We seek UN to rebuke Saudi government for having acted very slowly and ineffectively in the accident, having caused too many casualties, and unable to bring rescue and medical teams in time to the scene.

We are stricken with grief and plead UN to investigate this issue urgently into this matter and bring justice to the victims of this irresponsibility.

Sincerely yours,

Mecca disaster victims' families    Contact the author of the petition