Iranian death toll in Hajj stampede leaps to more than 450

Jethro Mullen
By Jethro Mullen, CNN
2 minute read
Updated 6:43 AM EDT, Thu October 1, 2015
graphic warning - single image
Saudi emergency personnel surround bodies of Hajj pilgrims at the site of a stampede Thursday, September 24, in Mecca, Islam's holiest city. Thursday morning's stampede killed hundreds during one of the last rituals of the<a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/23/world/gallery/hajj/index.html"> Hajj, the annual Islamic pilgrimage</a>.
Saudi emergency personnel surround bodies of Hajj pilgrims at the site of a stampede Thursday, September 24, in Mecca, Islam's holiest city. Thursday morning's stampede killed hundreds during one of the last rituals of the Hajj, the annual Islamic pilgrimage.
STR/AFP/Getty Images
Saudi emergency personnel carry a body.
Saudi emergency personnel carry a body.
STR/AFP/Getty Images
People stand near the bodies of victims at the site of the stampede.
People stand near the bodies of victims at the site of the stampede.
STR/AFP/Getty Images
Bodies lie covered in sheets. The death toll has been climbing steadily.
Bodies lie covered in sheets. The death toll has been climbing steadily.
AP
People stand near bodies covered in sheets.
People stand near bodies covered in sheets.
STR/AFP/Getty Images
Muslim pilgrims and rescuers gather around the victims.
Muslim pilgrims and rescuers gather around the victims.
AP
Bodies lie in the street as emergency personnel work.
Bodies lie in the street as emergency personnel work.
AP
Saudi emergency personnel load a wounded pilgrim into an ambulance.
Saudi emergency personnel load a wounded pilgrim into an ambulance.
STR/AFP/Getty Images
Emergency personnel carry an injured person.
Emergency personnel carry an injured person.
STR/AFP/Getty Images
Saudi ambulances arrive on the scene.
Saudi ambulances arrive on the scene.
MOHAMMED AL-SHAIKH/AFP/AFP/Getty Images
A man searches for a relative injured in the stampede.
A man searches for a relative injured in the stampede.
MOHAMMED AL-SHAIKH/AFP/Getty Images
Saudi medics tend to an injured pilgrim.
Saudi medics tend to an injured pilgrim.
MOHAMMED AL-SHAIKH/AFP/AFP/Getty Images
Saudi emergency personnel stand near bodies of Hajj pilgrims.
Saudi emergency personnel stand near bodies of Hajj pilgrims.
STR/AFP/AFP/Getty Images
Hundreds killed in Hajj stampede

Story highlights

State media: Fourteen Iranians are still receiving treatment in Saudi hospitals

Iran and Saudi Arabia are locked in a war of words over the deadly stampede

CNN  — 

The Iranian death toll in the recent stampede during the Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia has jumped above 450, state media reported.

The rise in the number of confirmed Iranian victims could prompt further outbursts from the Iranian government against Saudi Arabia, its bitter regional rival.

Iran’s Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization said Thursday that the number of Iranian pilgrims killed now stands at 464, according to official broadcaster PressTV. Fourteen others are still receiving treatment in Saudi hospitals, it said.

Previous updates from the organization had put the number of dead Iranian pilgrims at 239, with 241 others unaccounted for.

Saudi Arabia’s state-run news agency SPA has reported that at least 769 people were killed in the stampede with 900 others injured. Iran has claimed the overall toll is higher.

Iran threatens ‘harsh’ retaliation

Iran’s Supreme Leader on Wednesday kept up the verbal broadsides against Saudi Arabia, threatening it with “tough and harsh” retaliation because Iranian stampede victims weren’t being repatriated swiftly enough.

This general view shows Muslim pilgrims arriving for a prayer at Mecca's Grand Mosque, home of the cube-shaped Kaaba or 'House of God' that Muslims believe was built by Abraham 4,000 years ago, on September 30, 2014 . Hundreds of thousands of Muslim worshipers started pouring into the holy city for the annual Hajj pilgrimage. This year's Hajj comes as the authorities strive to protect pilgrims from two deadly viruses, Ebola and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus or MERS
This general view shows Muslim pilgrims arriving for a prayer at Mecca's Grand Mosque, home of the cube-shaped Kaaba or 'House of God' that Muslims believe was built by Abraham 4,000 years ago, on September 30, 2014 . Hundreds of thousands of Muslim worshipers started pouring into the holy city for the annual Hajj pilgrimage. This year's Hajj comes as the authorities strive to protect pilgrims from two deadly viruses, Ebola and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus or MERS
Mohammed Al-Shaikh/AFP/Getty Images
gallery

Related gallery Managing the crowds at the Hajj

“Saudi Arabia failed to fulfill its duties concerning the desperate wounded (pilgrims),” said Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to PressTV.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry released a statement saying that Khamenei had urged the formation of a fact-finding committee of Muslim nations, including Iran, to investigate the disaster.The ministry also summoned the Saudi charge d’affaires Wednesday, warning against any delay in identifying and repatriating missing and dead Iranian pilgrims, Iran’s state-run Mehr News Agency reported.

Iran and Saudi Arabia have been locked in a war of words over last week’s stampede, with Riyadh accusing Tehran of politicizing the tragedy and Tehran demanding an apology from Saudi Arabia, which it says mismanaged the Hajj.

The crush took place September 24 at Mina, a neighborhood about 2 miles from the Mecca holy site.

CNN’s Larry Register and Susannah Cullinane contributed to this report.