Saudi Arabia to Pay Diya for Hajj Martyrs from All Countries Simultaneously
Hojat-ol-Islam Ali Qazi Askar, the representative of Leader of the Islamic Revolution in Hajj and pilgrimage affairs, said Diya (financial compensation paid to the victim or heirs of a victim in the cases of murder, bodily harm or property damage) has not been paid to the Hajj martyrs from any country yet.
He said the Saudi authorities have announced that they plan to pay the Diya of the martyrs from all Muslim countries all at once.
In 2015, thousands of pilgrims were killed in two separate incidents during Hajj.
On September 24, 2015, over 7000 people, including 464 Iranians, lost their lives in the deadly crush after Saudi authorities blocked a road in Mina during a ritual, forcing large crowds of pilgrims to collide.
The crush was the deadliest incident in the history of the pilgrimage. According to an Associated Press count based on official statements from the 36 countries that lost citizens in the disaster, more than 2,400 pilgrims were killed in the incident.
But Iranian authorities say the number of those martyred in the crush of pilgrims was over 7000.
Two weeks earlier, on September 11, 2015, a huge construction crane collapsed into Mecca’s Grand Mosque, killing more than 100 pilgrims, including several Iranians, and injuring over 200 others in the lead-up to the annual Hajj pilgrimage.
