Ayatollah al-Najafi offers condolences to victims of Ashura stampede

In a statement, one of the revered Najaf-based sources of emulation offered condolences ‎on the martyrdom of a number of mourners who were killed in a stampede in Karbala on the ‎day of Ashura.

News ID: 446991

Date: 13 September 2019 - 08:46

According to Rasa News Agency’s correspondent in Najaf,‎ the office of Ayatollah ‎Bashir al-Najafi, one of the revered Najaf-based sources of emulation, issued a statement in ‎regard to the stampede which occurred in the holy city of Karbala on the Day of Ashura, ‎saying “The world is aware of the incident which occurred on during the Rakdhah al-Tuwayrij ‎‎[Tuwayrij run] rite on the day of the martyrdom of Imam al-Husayn as a result of the ‎crowding due to the presence of millions of lovers of Abu Abdillah al-Husayn.”‎

At least thirty-one pilgrims lost their lives and dozens more sustained injuries in a stampede ‎during the Muslim religious rituals of Ashura in Karbala, the Iraqi Health Ministry said. This ‎number will likely rise. ‎

The message reads, “Hisham ibn Sālim asked Imam al-Sadiq about the reward of a person ‎who dies while performing the pilgrimage of Imam al-Husayn and the Imam replied, ‘The ‎angels escort him and bring him camphor and clothes from paradise and will accompany ‎them in their funerals is prayed over him after they are shrouded, the angels will perform ‎prayers on them and shroud them again over their existing shrouds. Then they will spread ‎basil under their bodies in their graves and will push the walls of their graves three miles in ‎every direction. Then a door from the doors of heaven will be opened to their graves and a ‎soothing breeze and its fragrance will fill their graves until the rising of the Hour.’”‎
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The office of Ayatollah al-Najafi conveyed His Eminence’s condolences over this tragedy to ‎the Imam of the Time [Imam al-Mahdi] and to the believers.‎

Also, Hujjat al-Islam Sohbatollah Rahmani, the general manager of the Pilgrimage and Hajj ‎Organization of the Holy Shrines, said, “Due to overcrowding among the mourners of Imam ‎al-Husayni, at least 34 people were killed and 122 were injured and taken to medical ‎centres.” ‎

He added, “In order to further clarify the cause of the incident and the death toll, especially ‎in the case of Iranians, a headquarters composed of the Iranian Consulate in Karbala, the ‎Red Crescent, the Hajj Mission of the Supreme Leader in Iraq and the Hajj and Pilgrimage ‎Organization has been established.” ‎

Hujjat al-Islam Rahmani said, “Sources in Iraq’s Ministry of Health also confirmed that the ‎incident was not due to a collapse or displacement at the site but it was due to a large ‎crowd of mourners.”‎

Rasa News Agency

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