6 missing Egyptian pilgrims confirmed alive

“This is unacceptable. We have taken this up with Saudi authorities”.

Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani said neither the government not the religious affairs ministry did anything to find whereabouts of the missing Pakistani pilgrims. Authorities have not updated their casualty toll since September 26.

Terming the Mina stampede “incident”, Yousaf said there was no fault on part of the ministry as the Saudi government was the sole responsible for the arrangements made for Hujjaj gathered at the holy land.

The incident has raised questions over Saudi Arabia’s capacity to handle the millions of pilgrims in the biggest gathering of people in the world every year.

King Salman on Monday rejected any suggestions that Saudi Arabia should give up its role as the organizser of the hajj following last month’s deadly stampede in Mina. “They were stacked high”, Awad said.

Shiite power Iran, Sunni Saudi Arabia’s Mideast rival, has blamed the disaster on the kingdom’s “mismanagement” and accused Riyadh of a cover-up, saying the real death toll exceeds 4,700, without providing evidence to support the claim.

At present, he said, two injured were admitted to the hospital in Jeddah, while 45 others had been discharged after treatment.

But Saudi Arabia will maintain its “monopoly” over the hajj, even though it will likely face larger and larger crowds as time goes on, said Jon B. Alterman, a senior vice president at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and global Studies.