Muslim pilgrims threw pebbles at walls during the ritual 'stoning of the devil' as part of the annual haj pilgrimage today, a day after more than 700 were killed in a crush outside the Muslim holy city of Mecca.

The event during the Eid al-Adha festival, at Saudi Arabia's Jamarat walls, is one of the main rites of the haj.

Yesterday, at least 717 pilgrims from around the world were killed and at least 863 others were injured after a stampede, when two large groups of pilgrims arrived together at a crossroads in Mina, a few kilometres east of Mecca, on their way to performing the ritual at Jamarat.

The disaster was the worst to occur at the pilgrimage since July 1990, when 1,426 pilgrims suffocated in a tunnel near Mecca. Both incidents occurred on Eid al-Adha (Feast of the Sacrifice), Islam's most important feast and the day of the stoning ritual.

Saudi Arabia's heath minister said today that the deadly crush may have been caused by pilgrims failing to follow instructions from authorities shepherding the world's largest annual gathering of people.