Death toll at Saudi stampede rises to 453: Saudi civil defense

[September 24, 2015]  DUBAI (Reuters) - The death toll from a stampede during the annual Muslim hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia on Thursday has risen to 453 people of various nationalities, the Saudi civil defense said.

It said that the crush, caused by large numbers of people gathering at Mina, outside the Muslim holy city of Mecca, had left 719 people injured.

(Reporting by Omar Fahmy in Cairo, writing by Sami Aboudi; Editing by Hugh Lawson)

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