The Hajj, the annual Muslim pilgrimage, has been beset by disasters since the 1980s, leaving thousands dead and more injured.
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What you need to know about Hajj and dates of stampede
The deadliest Hajj stampede killed 1,426 people in 1990.
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The 2015 year has been particularly deadly, despite attempts by the government of Saudi Arabia to make the pilgrimage safer for the more than 2 million people who make the journey each year.
A stampede at one of the last rituals of the season -- known as the "stoning of Jamarat," which symbolizes "stoning the devil" killed more than 700 people and injured hundreds more Thursday in the most deadly incident in a quarter of a century.
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On September 2011, 2015, a crane collapsed a Mecca's Grand Mosque, killing 107 people and injuring hundreds more, just a few days before the pilgrimage that would attract millions to the mosque.
Latest figures from Saudi Arabia on the Hajj Stampede have pegged the death toll of Ghanaians at 17.
Read more: 15 missing Ghanaians pilgrims found
Ghana’s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Alhaji Said Sinare confirmed the number but explained that out of the 17, “12 died from the stampede and the remaining of natural causes.”
In all, about 5,309 Ghanaians left the shores of Ghana to take part in this year’s Hajj.
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This year’s stampede killed over 700 people in the Arabian country.
So why do incidents like this keep happening at the Hajj occasionally?
• 1987: More than 400 people, mainly Iranian Shiite pilgrims, are killed in clashes with Saudi security forces during anti-Western protests in Mecca.
• 1990: 1,426 pilgrims are trampled to death.
• 1994: A stampede near Jamarat Bridge kills 270 pilgrims.
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• 1997: A fire in Mina tears through a sprawling, overcrowded tent city, trapping and killing more than 340 pilgrims and injuring 1,500.
Read more: 5 Ghanaians feared missing in Mina stampede
• 1998: One hundred eighty people die in a stampede near Mecca at the end of the Hajj.
More recently, in 2004, an early morning stampede killed 251 pilgrims and injured another 244. It lasted 27 minutes before being brought under control.
In 2006, a particularly lethal stampede there killed at least 363 people.
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2015: over 700 people died in the Arabian country.
This year’s stampede is the deadliest in 25 years. Whiles Saudi authorities put the death toll at over 769 media reports say over 1000 people are dead.
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