PRAYERS were being said by Jersey’s Muslim community today for the 345 people crushed in a stampede in Saudi Arabia.

Hundreds more were injured on the last day of the Hajj pilgrimage at Mecca in the worst tragedy to hit the annual Muslim rite for 16 years.

Imam Abdul Bakhi (41) , a surgeon at the Hospital, will lead the prayers in a hall at St Thomas’s Church.

He said: ‘We will be asking Allah for their forgiveness and acceptance into paradise.

‘There are over two million people at Mecca to show their love for Allah.

Every Muslim must make one trip to Mecca during Hajj in their lifetime.

‘They want to show there love for Allah.

But in that moment some of them are too enthusiastic.

They forget their own flesh, their families, brothers and sisters and even themselves.

‘You cannot control two million people and that is the problem.

But it would be the same if it was 10,000 in a confined space.

Some of them, especially the elderly, have been waiting their whole lives for this moment.

‘We will remember them today after this sad event.’