PUSHED to the roadside, thousands of shoes were all that remained of the pilgrims’ trail over al-Aima bridge in Baghdad.

There were tiny children’s sandals, brightly coloured women’s slippers and teenagers’ grubby trainers, whose owners were now either dead — some at the bottom of the muddy waters of the Tigris — or injured.

Iraqis have endured being bombed, butchered and terrorised, but even the most hardened were unprepared for the scenes that unfolded yesterday morning. This time the carnage was not the work of tanks or terrorists, but poor planning by the authorities and bad luck.

Interior Ministry officials said that the death toll stood at 965 near midnight. The injured numbered 475.

Government ministers accused agents provocateurs linked to Sunni Muslim militants of deliberately panicking the huge crowd of Shia Muslim pilgrims into a stampede. But in interviews with survivors, rescue workers and medical staff a far simpler version emerged.

The authorities had wanted to prevent possible suicide bombings against al-Kadhimiya shrine and had told guards to erect concrete barricades on the bridge and to search all pilgrims crossing the river.

Nearly a million worshippers converged on the site. The screening process was inadequate. A bottleneck developed on the bridge. People were either crushed or leapt for their lives into the river.

Many of the dead were children and the elderly, too weak to resist the force of the crowd. Most died of suffocation.

Majda Hamadi had been returning with her sons, Abbas and Mustafa, from praying at the shrine to avoid the crowds and heat of midday. She had just crossed the bridge when she was confronted by a sea of humanity coming the other way. She had been carrying Mustafa, 6, on her shoulders.

“Someone pushed me. He fell forward. Fortunately, a man grabbed him and threw him like a ball to another man. I thought I would die. I recited the shahada (Muslim death prayer),” she said.

“I saw a woman carrying a baby. She was pushed and dropped the child, who was crushed under the feet of the crowd. Then I passed out.”

When Mrs Hamadi awoke, someone had pulled her out. Abbas was dead.

Hassan Fallah, 17, crushed against the railings of the bridge decided to jump, even though he was above the concrete embankment.

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