Security increased at haj site as death toll from tragedy rises to 769

Mecca

SAUDI Arabia deployed large numbers of security reinforcements on Saturday as pilgrims performed the final rituals of a haj marred by double tragedy, with the death toll from a stampede rising to 769.

The kingdom's leaders have ordered an inquiry into the disaster - the deadliest to strike the annual Muslim pilgrimage in a quarter-century - and a "revision" of its organisation, with the deaths raising tensions with regional rival Iran as well.

Dozens of emergency workers were seen on one level of Jamarat Bridge, a five-storey structure in Mina where pilgrims ritually stone the devil, and on which hundreds of thousands were converging when Thursday's stampede occurred nearby.

Many more patrolled the network of roads leading to …