Mina (Saudi Arabia): Dozens of unconscious pilgrims were taken to hospital in Mina near the Muslim holy city of Mecca today (Feb 3, 2004) after being caught in another stampede during the stoning of the devil ritual, the Saudi Health Minister said.

Unlike Sunday's (Feb 1) stampede in which 251 pilgrims were killed, there were no deaths today evening, Hamad al-Mani told reporters.

"A stampede occurred this evening on the stoning bridge which caused a large number of pilgrims to fall to the ground," said Mani.

"But security officers intervened and stopped the flow of people onto the bridge, as they attended to the fallen pilgrims who were unconscious or breathless."

He said "dozens of pilgrims" were transported to Mina's General Hospital where they were treated and their "lives saved".

Since dawn, hundreds of thousands of Muslim pilgrims have flocked to the 272-metre long esplanade and the bridge above it to throw stones at three pillars representing the devil, in the last major ritual of the pilgrimage.

They were channelled by a wall of hundreds of security officers who prevented any of them from taking their bags or belongings onto the esplanade in an effort to avoid a repeat of Sunday's tragedy.

The high-risk ritual, which has resulted in similar deadly incidents in the past, is expected to continue until midnight (02:30 hours IST) today (Feb 3) and to resume at dawn tomorrow.