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(Updated) It’s been a tragic day in Saudi Arabia. The details and images are disturbing. A stampede during one of the last rituals of the Hajj season killed more than 700 people and left 800 others wounded.

More than 700 were crushed and trampled to death when two giant waves of Muslim pilgrims collided at an intersection at a holy site on the outskirts of the holy city of Mecca. One pilgrim says people were climbing over one another just to breathe. Saudi authorities are now trying to determine how it happened, with King Salman promising a speedy investigation into the second major disaster to strike during this year’s pilgrimage season. Earlier this month a crane collapse in Mecca killed more than 100 people.

The Hajj, which drew 2 million people from over 180 countries this year, is a huge logistical challenge for Saudi Arabia. The kingdom has spent billions of dollars to accommodate the growing number of pilgrims and maintain safety and security at Islam’s holy cities of Mecca and Medina for the annual event.

Eid marks the end of the Hajj season. Hajj is a pilgrimage all able Muslims are required to make once in their lifetime. Thursday morning more than 3,000 people gathered at the Hamilton mountain mosque for prayers. Many people at the mosque have made the Hajj. They’re thinking about those who lost their lives in the horrific stampede outside Mecca.

“We’ve been hearing it on the news while getting ready for the prayers here. They’re in our thoughts and in our prayers.”

“I think that there are better planning and more security and stuff like that to improve the way people move.”

Eid means ‘feast’. “People will go and buy food, buy meat or slaughter their own animals and take some of it and share it with the needy.”

There are two Eid celebrations each year, this one commemorates the Prophet Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son for God.

“Gatherings like this are amazing because you get to see almost everybody you know and it brings you to family and friends.”