In yet another mishap to hit the ongoing Haj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia, the door of a special metro train rolled out to carry Haj pilgrims from Mecca to Arafat malfunctioned on Wednesday, trapping over 200 pilgrims who suffocated and fainted.
Saudi officials said that the rush of pilgrims to board the train on the Day of Arafat on Wednesday caused the automatic system of the train door of one car to malfunction, which left the Haj pilgrims stranded for almost 30 minutes.
Two hundred and four pilgrims fainted or suffered fatigue due to the train mishap, Saudi Gazette reported, and at least five people had to be hospitalised.
This year, Saudi Arabia has been hit by a series of accidents affecting Haj pilgrims.
On 11 September, a crane crash at the Grand Mosque killed more than 100 pilgrims and injured many others.
In later weeks, at least two fires were reported at hotels in Mecca where thousands of pilgrims are staying, injuring several people and forcing evacuations of thousands.
On Wednesday, Saudi Arabia's Minister of Municipal and Rural Affairs Engineer Abdul Latif bin Abdul Malik Al Al-Sheikh visited the train station to investigate the cause of the technical failure that affected hundreds of Haj pilgrims.
Saudi Arabia had rolled out a special metro train service for the Haj pilgrimage this year to transport lakhs of pilgrims between Mina and Arafat.
This year, nearly two million Muslims undertook the Haj pilgrimage.
