Hajj ends as stampede death toll rises to 769

Mecca

Saudi Arabia deployed large numbers of security reinforcements on Saturday as pilgrims performed the final rituals of a Hajj marred by double tragedy, with the death toll from a stampede rising to 769.

Health Minister Khaled al Falih announced the new figure, an increase from the previous toll of 717.

The number hurt rose to 934 from 863 recorded just after the deadliest incident in a quarter-century to strike the annual Muslim pilgrimage.

Dozens of emergency workers were seen on one level of Jamarat Bridge, a five-storey structure in Mina where pilgrims ritually stone the devil, and on which hundreds of thousands were converging when Thursday's stampede occurred nearby.

Many more patrolled the network of roads leading to the structure, which resembles a parking garage.

The interior ministry has said it assigned 100,000 police to secure the Hajj and manage crowds.

But pilgrims blamed the stampede on police road closures and poor management of the throng, during searing temperatures.

"People were trying to manoeuvre to the front for safety but police were saying 'Go back ! Go back!'" said Nigerian Abbas Tijani, who escaped with injuries.

"Everybody was trying to survive," he said from his hospital bed. "People were stepped on by people."