Pope Expresses Closeness to World’s Muslims after Mina Disaster

TEHRAN (IQNA) – Pope Francis expressed “closeness” with the world’s Muslims on Thursday after hundreds of pilgrims were killed in a stampede outside the holy city of Makkah in the worst disaster to strike the annual Hajj pilgrimage in a quarter century.

Speaking during a packed evening prayer service at New York’s St. Patrick’s Cathedral, the Argentine pope said he wanted to express “my sentiments of closeness in the face of the tragedy that their people suffered today in Makkah,” Reuters reported.

“In this moment of prayer, I unite myself with you all in prayer to God, our father, all powerful and merciful,” Francis added.

More than 1300 pilgrims, including 131 Iranians, died and many more injured in the crush, which came nearly two weeks after tens of Hajj pilgrims were killed in another tragic event in Makkah.

On September 11, a massive construction crane crashed into Makkah’s Grand Mosque in stormy weather, killing at least 107 people and injuring 201 others.