Annual pilgrimage to Mecca has history of fatal accidents

More than 700 pilgrims were killed in a crush at hajj on Thursday, the deadliest such incident since 1990. Here are some other fatal events at hajj 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.

• Haj stampede kills hundreds, Saudi civil defence says
• Winds blamed as Mecca crane collapse kills more than 100

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 hajj 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 A tent fire kills 343 pilgrims at the hajj 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 hajj.

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 hajj begins, crushing 111 people to death.

September 2015 A crush of pilgrims traveling from the camp at Mina to the Jamarat bridge kills at least 700, Saudi civil defence says.