of those who hadnt perished under the heaps of broken roof beams , bricks and stones , some had been stampeded by panicked cows and camels trying to break free , others had been killed by tree limbs cast by the gale like spears , while a tragic few , mostly mothers of infants and babes , had first killed them and then themselves , cutting their throats to avoid the much crueller fate they foresaw in the black stones fatal plummet .