At least 345 people have been killed in a stampede during the Muslim Hajj pilgrimage, according to the Saudi Health Minister, Abdullah al-Manei.
Some 289 others were injured in the incident which occurred at a ritual stoning of three pillars symbolising the devil in the valley of Mina, east of the holy city of Mecca.
It is understood the pilgrims were trampled to death as they tripped over luggage that fell onto the eastern entrance of the Jamarat bridge.
The stoning of Satan is the riskiest episode of the Hajj as thousands jostle to make sure their pebbles hit the pillars while weaker pilgrims risk being trampled.
It is the latest in a succession of stampede tragedies to hit the Hajj pilgrimage despite efforts of the Saudi authorities to avoid a repeat of disasters like the one that killed 1,426 people in 1990.
250 pilgrims were crushed to death in 2004 at the same bridge, where the ritual is performed three times between Tuesday and Thursday in the final part of the pilgrimage.
Saudi Arabia has recently revamped the Jamarat area by expanding the stoning targets and providing over 60,000 security men to control the huge crowd and avert possible attacks by Islamist militants.
More than two million people took part in this year's five-day ritual in Mecca, a duty for every able-bodied Muslim at least once in a lifetime.
