2006年VOA标准英语-Hajj Pilgrims Search for News of Missing R

By Challiss McDonough
Cairo
13 January 2006

The death toll¹ has risen to at least 363 after Thursday's deadly stampede during the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca. Pilgrims are searching for news of their friends and relatives who disappeared during the crush.

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Muslim pilgrims search for photos of their missing loved ones, victims of a stampede, at al-Moaysem Medical Center in Mina    
  

Hundreds of anxious pilgrims scanned a photo display at a hospital Friday, looking for pictures of their missing loved ones who they feared might be among the dead.

As the nationalities of the victims are gradually revealed, it is becoming clear that the disaster on the Jamarat Bridge has touched people from around the globe. The stampede claimed the lives of Africans, Arabs, Asians and Europeans.

An Algerian pilgrim, who did not give his name, scanned the wall looking for missing Algerians.

"Yes, there are many missing people, at least 35 Algerians," he said, and he says there has been no word on their fate.

Saudi authorities say many of the victims were Asian, including Pakistanis, Indians and Indonesians. There were also reported to be a large number of Egyptians among the dead. 

A Saudi ambulance rushes through a crowd of Muslim pilgrims to the site of the stampede  
  
Thursday's disaster underscores the difficulty of hosting the world's largest annual religious ceremony, which this year drew roughly 2.5 million pilgrims.

Although Saudi immigration officials try to limit the number of people allowed into the country for the Hajj, their numbers are boosted by the arrival of others who already live and work elsewhere in Saudi Arabia. These unofficial pilgrims go on the Hajj without going through the proper channels. The editor of Al-Medina newspaper, Khaled Batarfi, says the sheer number of pilgrims makes crowd control almost impossible if something goes wrong.

"This is a problem I don't know if there's any way we can solve because you are talking about millions of people moving at the same time…. [Thursday] it was at least one million moving at the same time, and 400 to 600,000 of them are illegal Hajjis who, as I said came from local areas without having permission… or any organization of any kind," he said.

Saudi officials blame the stampede on pilgrims who broke the rules and brought their luggage with them to the bridge. They say the bags tripped people as the crowd pushed in behind them. Saudi authorities also say many pilgrims insist on performing the stoning ritual in the early afternoon, as is traditional, even though authorities urge them to do it at different times throughout the day to reduce crowding.

But some pilgrims say the Saudi security forces are at fault for failing to enforce their own rules strictly² enough. In calls to Arab satellite TV stations, angry pilgrims have complained that the security forces were not controlling the crowds very well.

Saudi Arabia has made major modifications³ to the Jamirat Bridge in recent years in an effort to avoid such disasters. This is the fifth time in the last eight years that a stampede has claimed lives during the final phase of the Hajj, the ritual stoning of the devil. It is also the second-deadliest Hajj stampede ever, after the 1990 disaster that killed more than 1,400 pilgrims.

This year's Hajj has been twice plagued by tragedy. As the pilgrimage was beginning, a building being used as a hotel collapsed⁴ in the heart of Mecca, killing⁵ at least 76 people.

1 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

2 strictly   

adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地

参考例句：

• His doctor is dieting him strictly.他的医生严格规定他的饮食。
• The guests were seated strictly in order of precedence.客人严格按照地位高低就座。

3 modifications   

n.缓和( modification的名词复数 )；限制；更改；改变

参考例句：

• The engine was pulled apart for modifications and then reassembled. 发动机被拆开改型，然后再组装起来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The original plan had undergone fairly extensive modifications. 原计划已经作了相当大的修改。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

5 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。