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Thousands attend funerals of Iranians killed in hajj crush

Thousands attend funerals of Iranians killed in hajj crush

By ASSOCIATED PRESS

Iranian officials pray as they touch the coffin of a dead hajj pilgrim who was killed in a deadly stampede in Mina near Mecca in Saudi Arabia on September 24, at Mehrabad airport in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Oct. 3, 2015. The first plane carrying bodies of Iranian pilgrims killed in the hajj stampede in Saudi Arabia arrived in Tehran Saturday, nine days after the disaster that escalated tensions between the two regional rivals. President Hassan Rouhani and other senior officials were at the airport for the arrival of the plane, which carried 104 bodies. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)

TEHRAN, IRAN: Thousands of mourners have attended funeral services in Iran for pilgrims killed in a stampede during last month's hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia. A ceremony at Tehran University on Sunday was one of several held for dozens of victims whose remains were flown back to Iran the day before. Another 114 bodies arrived Sunday. Iran has blamed Saudi authorities for the disaster, which heightened tensions between the two regional rivals. Mourners at the Tehran ceremony chanted 'death to Al-Saud,' referring to Saudi Arabia's ruling family. Saudi authorities say 769 pilgrims died in the stampede near Mecca in the worst disaster to strike the annual pilgrimage in a quarter-century. Iran appears to have lost the largest number of pilgrims, with 464 dead.