Timeline-Disasters at annual Muslim hajj pilgrimage

Thousands of people have died in recent years in religious festivals. Here are some fatal events at haj in past years.

December 1975 - A cooking gas cylinder explodes in the pilgrim tent city, causing a fire that kills over 200 pilgrims.

July 1987 - Iranian protesters clash with Saudi police, leading to the death of more than 400 Iranian pilgrims.

July 1990 - Inside the al-Muaissem tunnel near Mecca in Saudi Arabia, 1,426 pilgrims are crushed to death. The accident occurs on Eid al-Adha (The Feast of Sacrifice), Islam's most important feast at the end of the haj and the day of the "stoning of the devil" ritual.

May 1994 - A stampede near Jamarat Bridge in Mina, near Mecca, kills 270 in the area where pilgrims ritually stone the devil.

April 1997 - 343 pilgrims are killed in a tent fire at the haj camp at Mina, prompting the government to construct a permanent, fireproof tent city there.

April 1998 - One hundred and nineteen Muslim pilgrims are crushed to death in Saudi Arabia at the Haj.

February 2004 - A stampede kills 251 Muslim pilgrims in Saudi Arabia near the Jamarat Bridge during the stoning of the devil.

January 2006 - Some 362 Muslim pilgrims are crushed to death at the eastern entrance of the Jamarat Bridge during the stoning ritual.

September 2015 - A crane crashes into the Grand Mosque days before haj begins, crushing 111 people to death.

September 2015 - A crush of pilgrims travelling from the camp at Mina to the Jamarat bridge kills at least 310.