Dubai: The health ministry in Saudi Arabia has dismissed a claim that the stampede in Mina on the first day of Eid Al Adha was caused by poisonous gas.
“Such an allegation is totally groundless and lacks scientific credibility,” Faysal Al Zahrani, the spokesperson for the ministry, told Saudi daily Al Watan on Wednesday.
“Even if we suppose there was gas bomb or leak within the crowds at Mina, how were the security men and the people near the pilgrims and in the vicinity spared from the effects?
"Most of the cases of the people who were taken to hospitals by Red Crescent rescuers and paramedics were diagnosed as asphyxiation and fractures caused by the stampede. There were also cases of sunstrokes due to the soaring temperatures."
The poisonous gas claim was reportedly made by an Arab doctor who said he was working in Saudi Arabia. The allegations were disseminated on social media, prompting the health ministry to dismiss them.
The doctor who was not named said that he had reached his conclusion after seeing several bodies and talking with people.
He alleged that the temporary loss of consciousness and memory by some of the patients was caused by the gas. However, he did not identify the gas.
Several theories, many with political overtones, have been put forward to explain the tragedy in which at least 769 people suffocated or were trampled to death.
The crush occurred as pilgrims were heading to three large pillars throw stones in a symbolic casting away of the devil.
Saudi Arabia has launched an investigation into the incident.
