Jamarat Bridge

Coordinates: 21 ° 25 ′ 17 ″  N , 39 ° 52 ′ 22 ″  E

Jamarat Bridge
The Jamarat Bridge as seen from the north. The three elongated pillars - called jamarāt - at which the pilgrims throw stones are clearly visible .
place	Mina (Saudi Arabia)
building-costs	US $ 1.2 billion
start of building	2006
completion	2009
location

The Jamarat Bridge ( Arabic جسر الجمرات, DMG Ǧisr al-Ǧamarāt ; English translation Jamarat or Jamaraat ) is a 5-story pedestrian bridge. It is located in Mina in Saudi Arabia .

The structure is not a bridge in the classical sense that crosses a river or a street to connect two places. Rather, it is the place where pilgrims perform several symbolic stoning of the devil for three to four days during Hajj . The pilgrims each have to throw 7 stones at three huge pillars, the so-called jamarāt . Again and again there are deaths as a result of mass panic :

• 1994 - 270 dead
• 1998 - 119 dead
• 2001 - 35 dead
• 2004 - 245 dead
• 2006 - 364 dead
• 2015 - at least 769 dead

Despite expanded security measures after 2004, there was another mass panic in 2006. Then the old bridge from 1963 was demolished and the construction of the new bridge, which was already in the planning stage, was started. Since its completion in 2009 it has been possible to throw stones at the jamarāt from a total of five levels . During this construction work, the jamarāt itself were also changed. It used to be “classic” stone pillars in the shape of an obelisk . Since the pilgrims threw stones at the pillars from all sides, pilgrims were accidentally hit on the other side. Furthermore, the small obelisks no longer offered enough wall space for the many pilgrims. The new jamarāt are therefore elliptical in plan over 20 meters. The new bridge is expected to have a capacity of 250,000 people per hour.

Web links

Commons : Jamarat Bridge  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• The worst accidents in the Hajj. Spiegel Online , January 12, 2006, accessed August 19, 2010 . 
• Deadly Mecca crush blamed on bridge bottleneck. The Sydney Morning Herald, January 14, 2006, accessed August 19, 2010 . 
• Hassan M. Fattah: Stampede During Pilgrimage to Mecca Kills 345. The New York Times, January 13, 2006, accessed August 19, 2010 . 
• Hassan M. Fattah: Why Mecca's Pilgrims Need Engineering, Not Just Prayer. The New York Times, January 17, 2006, accessed August 19, 2010 . 
• New Design For Jamarat Bridge In Mina, Saudi Arabia. Fahad Inc., January 17, 2006, accessed August 19, 2010 . 
• Max Rauner: Don't panic. Spiegel Online, October 22, 2007, accessed August 19, 2010 . 
• Amir Ahmed: A bridge to safety unveiled for Hajj stoning ritual. CNN , November 29, 2009, accessed August 19, 2010 . 

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Hajj: number of victims rises to 769, Khamenei demands apology , derStandard.at, September 27, 2015, accessed on September 28, 2015.
2. ^ Hajj ritual sees new safety moves. BBC MMX, January 10, 2006, accessed August 19, 2010 . 
3. ↑ Koran for Kids ( Memento of the original from June 27, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Images of the ancient obelisk- shaped jamarāt .