TWO million Muslims celebrated the feast of Eid al Adha yesterday at the end of a haj pilgrimage in which 343 people died when a ferocious fire swept through their camp.
Huge crowds performed early Eid prayers at the Grand Mosque in Mecca, while others made their way back to Mena, 11 km away, the site of Tuesday's blaze in which 1,290 pilgrims were injured.
As Saudi officials struggled to identify the dead, labourers finished erecting new tents to house pilgrims left without shelter after the inferno consumed 70,000 tents.
Muslims in seamless white robes hurled stones at three pillars symbolising the devil, while helicopters circled overhead. The stoning was the final ritual of the haj, which reached its climax on Wednesday at Mount Arafat where the Prophet Muhammad preached his last sermon 14 centuries ago.
"Oh my God, it was horrible," said Ehab, an Egyptian pilgrim, as he made his way back to the Mena tent site.
"People were running everywhere, but they could not get away because everywhere they went they saw fire.
A Nigerian pilgrim said: "This was from God."
The Eid sermon made no mention of the fire. Thousands of worshippers shuffled shoulder to shoulder around the cube shaped Kaaba at the centre of the Grand Mosque, one of Islam's holiest shrines.
The imam, who accused Israel of trying to seize Arab holy land and kill civilians, said unity was essential to overcome attempts to weaken Islamic slates.
Some pilgrims shaved their heads with bare blades, while others slaughtered sheep for Eid al Adha - the Feast of Sacrifice marked by a billion Muslims worldwide.
This year, 500,000 sheep and 15,000 camels and cattle were being slaughtered, Saudi media said, adding that the meat would be distributed among the poor in 27 countries. Saudi television showed Mecca abattoir workers slitting the throats of struggling sheep.
The official media did not give the nationalities of the dead, but diplomats said most were Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis. The fire also engulfed Syrian, Lebanese, Egyptian, Sudanese, Yemeni and Moroccan sections.
Diplomats said they still had no final figures on the number of dead, adding that many bodies were charred beyond recognition.
The blaze was the latest tragedy to strike the pilgrimage to Mecca, which able bodied Muslims are obliged to perform at least once if they can afford it.
In 1990, 1,426 pilgrims were crushed in a stampede in a tunnel and in 1994, another 270 people died in a stampede.
Riyadh has given no cause for Tuesday's blaze apart from saying it was an accident, but diplomats and witnesses said it was caused by gas cylinders.