article: Here are some accounts from people at the pilgrimage, including BBC journalists who witnessed the crush. "Where I'm standing, here in the centre of Mina city, I can see dead bodies wrapped in white cloth. Police have barricaded the area so I couldn't count them, but dead bodies stretch as far as my eyes can see. "Surrounding the area some relatives are hanging around in mourning and other pilgrims who are in the tent city in Mina are also coming round to see the bodies and also to sympathise and mourn. Police officials are stopping people from passing through the area while they deal with all the dead bodies, while ambulances are moving in and out. "Because of the lack of access, we don't know what the ambulances are doing. Helicopters are hovering over the area where the bodies are being kept." "My group and I went there very early in the morning because we knew it would be too crowded. "After the throwing-the-stone ritual we walked back to our tent. It was already packed, difficult to move and also difficult to breath. People were everywhere, forcefully trying to get their way further. "People were starting to fall. I saw an Indonesian being cared for by paramedics. More people fell, or lay down, I thought because they were caught by heat, I'm not sure. Thanks to God, we managed to get to our tent at about 9am. Much later I heard about the stampede. It is horrible. The news left me in shock." "I was in the crowd and most people, I would say 90%, are very peaceful. Then you get the young people and the heat is quite unrelenting as well. People want to do it quickly, they want to finish and, because it would get hot, people were pushing. "I can't believe what happened. It's tragic. At the end of the day [we have to] put up our hands and ask Allah for mercy." "I was at the centre of the stampede," Mr Bamidele told the Vanguard newspaper. "Saudi police and traffic officials who used to control movement were not available. In fact it was after the stampede that they arrived. I managed to escape unhurt." "There was crowding. The police had closed all entrances and exits to the pilgrims' camp, leaving only one. "I saw dead bodies in front of me and injuries and suffocation. We removed the victims with the police. They [the police] don't even know the roads and the places around here." "People were going towards the direction of throwing the stones while others were coming in the opposite direction. Then it became chaotic and suddenly people started going down. There were people from Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Senegal among other nationalities. People were just climbing on top of others in order to move to a safer place and that's how some people died. "People were chanting Allah's name while others were crying, including children and infants. People fell on the ground seeking help but there was no-one to give them a helping hand. "Everybody seemed
summary: A stampede during the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia has killed at least 700 people and injured more than 860.