The Indian government indentified 13 more bodies belonging to Indians among those killed at the worst tragedy ever happened at the annual Haj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia. With this the death toll rose to 35 at the horrific Haj stampede that happened last week.
The updated toll was tweeted by Sushma Swaraj, the external Affairs Minister saying: ‘Earlier, seven more Indians were identified among the dead raising last night's death toll from 22 to 29.’
The Haj Consulate in Jeddah indentified 13 Indian pilgrims among the dead as Mansurul Haque from Jharkhand; Anvar Janha from UP; Amina Beevi, F A Muneer Veetil, P V Kunhimon, Moiuddin Abdul Kader, and Abdul Rahiman Asarithodi from Kerala; Jaibun Nisha from Bihar; Nashima Khatoon from Jharkhand; Mohamed Younus Rahimbhai Mansuri, Bibi Ismail, Mehrunnisha Hanif and Yusuf Sikandarmiyan Malik from Gujarat.
Also read: Stampede Takes At Least 200 Lives, Injures 450 During Hajj Pilgrimage
Total death toll put up by Saudi authorities during Haj was 769 and 934 injured. Among those injured were at least 13 Indians. The formation of a committee was ordered by King Salman to probe the deadly incident that happened at the five-day pilgrimage. Two million people took part in Haj pilgrimage from more than 180 countries. Around 1.5 lakh India pilgrims performed Haj.
The stampede that broke out after huge number of pilgrims from many directions converged on each other at a point close to Jamarat Bridge in Mina for the ‘symbolic stoning of the devil’, was the second major accident for pilgrims in 2015. On 11 September 2015, a construction crane collapse killed more than 100 people, of which 11 of them were Indians, at Mecca's Grand Mosque.
Also read: Towering Construction Crane Crashes Into Grand Mecca Mosque, 107 Killed
-Sumana
