An Iranian survivor of the deadly Mina stampede on Thursday morning (24 September) has alleged that the Saudi rescue workers arrived at the scene almost two hours after the accident near Mecca.
Iran, which lost 131 nationals in the one of the worst accidents in Mecca in the last 25 years, has accused the Saudi government of 'mismanagement'.
The unidentified survivor told television channels in Iran that the rescue efforts were delayed and for the first two hours, the Haj pilgrims were the ones involved in helping the injured and the trapped victims of the stampede.
A Press TV report citing the stampede survivor noted, "It took the rescue workers two hours or more to arrive at the scene." A few volunteers, who came to help, focused more on removing the bodies, instead of helping the injured, the survivor alleged.
"I mean there was nobody to help us," he said.
It was then up to the pilgrims to help the injured, especially the children and the elderly, who were begging for water, the unidentified survivor said.
As per the latest figures, 717 Haj pilgrims were killed and 863 injured in the stampede.
The Iranian head of the Haj pilgrimage said on Friday that the number of casualties from his country may rise substantially as many of the 60 injured Iranians are critical, The Daily Star reported.
Since Thursday's tragedy, the Iranian Mullah regime has been severely critical of the Saudi Wahhabi rulers. "The government of Saudi Arabia must accept the huge responsibility for this catastrophe," Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei lashed out.
