Iranian hajj official: 4700 died in Mina stampede

Among the deceased Nigerian pilgrims, 46 were transported to Saudi Arabia by provincial pilgrims’ welfare agencies while 18 others embarked on the pilgrimage through private tour operators, the Nigerian official said Tuesday.

Saudi authorities have yet to provide a breakdown of the nationalities of the 769 Muslim pilgrims killed in Thursday’s hajj stampede, but several countries have announced the deaths of nationals.

She added that poor management and lack of foresight on the part of Saudi officials caused the deadly incident in Mina.

Culture Minister Ali Jannati was initially going to head the delegation, but Saudi Arabia refused to issue him a visa, according to reports.

Chaudhry said all out efforts were underway to locate the remaining missing Pakistanis, and that the government was receiving a number of calls daily from the relatives of the Pakistani pilgrims whose whereabouts are still unknown.

The Saudi health authority took pictures, physical identification and finger prints and also numbered the bodies of the victims of the tragedy. It was the worst disaster to strike the annual pilgrimage in a quarter-century.

Later Monday, the death toll for Iran in the disaster rose to 228 pilgrims killed, Iranian state television reported. So far, no hearing has been set.

At least 1100 Hajj pilgrims from various countries were martyred as a result of a stampede last week in Mina where they had gathered to stone the devil as a ritual for this year’s Hajj.

Many are pilgrims who reside in the kingdom and perform the hajj without the legal permits.

Others were said to be among the 109 people who were killed when a crane collapsed at the Grand Mosque in Mecca on 11 September.

“The Saudi government is not carrying out its obligation to repatriate and in a few cases shows slyness”, Khamenei told military commanders in northern Iran in comments broadcast on state TV.