The Islamic Association of China said Monday night that five Chinese Muslim pilgrims had been killed in a stampede on Sunday during a ritual at the annual pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia.

Quoting the latest report from a pilgrimage task force dispatched by the association, Yu Zhengui, vice-president of the association, also said in a press release that about 10 other Chinese pilgrims got hurt.

More than 30 Muslims from Gansu Province in northwest China were pushed to the ground in the stampede at the ritual site, the press release said.

Chinese President Hu Jintao on a foreign visit has instructed the Chinese embassy in Riyadh to offer all assistance possible to the Chinese pilgrims.

(Xinhua News Agency February 3, 2004)