Saudi Arabia's civil defense says that at least 310 pilgrims have died while 450 others were injured when a stampede broke out in the tent city of Mina, reported Al Arabiya News. Rescue operations are currently under way, the service said on Twitter, after the stampede in Mina near Mecca, where hundreds of thousands of pilgrims were taking part in the 'stoning of the devil', last major rite of the Hajj pilgrimage. Al Arabiya News Channel's correspondent Abdulrahman Al-Osaimi reporting from Mina emergency hospital said the stampede happened at the entrance of the Jamarat bridge near Street 204, not inside of the area where the stoning pillars are. "The injured have been distributed to four other hospitals in the Mina area. Some of the injured have been evacuated by helicopters to hospitals in Makkah city," our reporter said. The civil defense team also said that their teams on the ground are leading pilgrims to safer routes away from the stampede through alternate routes and that rescue operations are still underway. Footage from the scene show people lying on the floor while emergency crews tend to the injured. Images shared on Twitter also show neighboring hospitals in the area getting ready.
