Smash hit

“It was about three and a half metres. A fat lady begged me to pull her up and jump with her. We jumped together. I got bruises on my legs and feet. She lost consciousness. I do not know if she survived,” he said.

“I made my way to some relatives. Then I returned to complete my pilgrimage.”

The Numan hospital was a scene of carnage. Its mortuary could not cope with the arrival of 150 bodies. First they were put in empty rooms, then corridors. Finally they were put on the pavement outside, where people searched the faces for their missing relatives.

“I saw my two daughters fall on the ground in front of me but I could do nothing to save them,” said Abu Duaa, who was clutching the body of his daughter Miad.

Although most realised that what happened was an accident, in the tinderbox of Iraqi politics there were fears that such a huge loss to one community could lead to a backlash against Sunni Muslims. Earlier, seven Shia pilgrims had been killed in a mortar attack claimed by militants linked to al-Qaeda.

After the bridge deaths, Iraqi government ministers accused Sunni extremists of triggering the disaster. Muwaffaq alRubaie, the National Security Adviser, said: “It was Saddamists and Zarqawists who spread rumours on the bridge, and that is why people panicked.”

The communities are at loggerheads over the constitution, published this week, which would consolidate the powers of the majority Shias, gained at the expense of the once-dominant Sunnis, and many fear that there could be civil war.

Haith al-Dhari, head of the Sunni Association of Muslim Scholars, expressed condolences to “all Iraqis and the parents of martyrs, who fell today in al-Kadhimiya”. But he extended the same to all Iraqis who lost their lives, namely Sunni insurgents in the bloody struggle with US-backed forces.

The Shias had been on the pilgrimage, banned under Saddam Hussein, that commemorates the death of Imam Moussa ibn Jaafar alKadhim, one of 12 imams revered in the Shia branch of Islam.

Pilgrims walk to al-Kadhimiya Mosque, many beating their chests in grief; some flog themselves with chains and cut their foreheads with swords.

The mosque is believed to be built over al-Kadhim’s tomb.

Shia Muslims believe that the family of Muhammad were his rightful successors; Sunnis believe in the right of the Prophet’s companions to succeed him.

FAITH FATALITIES

March 2, 2004: Blasts from suicide bombers, mortars and explosives at Shia shrines in Karbala and Baghdad killed at least 181 and wounded 573

February 1, 2004: 251 Muslim pilgrims killed in stampede in Saudi Arabian city of Mina during stoning ritual

April 9, 1998: Some 180 pilgrims trampled to death after several fell off overpass during stoning of Devil ritual in Mina

April 15, 1997: Fires tore through tent city at Mina, killing 340 pilgrims and injuring 1,500

May 23, 1994: 270 pilgrims killed in stampede in Mecca, Saudi Arabia

July 9, 1990: 1,426 killed in stampede in pedestrian tunnel in Mecca.

July 31, 1987: 402 people killed and 649 wounded in Mecca when security forces clash with Iranians

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