Mecca: 10 more bodies of Nigerians recovered

The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria on Tuesday said 10 more corpses of deceased Nigerian pilgrims had been identified, bringing the number of pilgrims who died at Mina stampede, to 64.

Giving newsmen an update on the incident in Mecca, Alhaji Uba Mana, the Director, Public Affairs of the commission, said 244 pilgrims had been declared missing.

Mana said 71 pilgrims were injured as against the 61 pilgrims earlier announced by the commission.

He said of the 64 deceased pilgrims, 46 were transported to Saudi Arabia by state pilgrims’ welfare agencies and 18 by private tour operators.

Mana also said that 12 of the 71 injured pilgrims were transported to Saudi Arabia by tour operators and 59 by state pilgrims’ welfare agencies.

He said the deceased were from Adamawa,Bauchi, Borno, Ekiti, Jigawa, FCT, Cross Rivers, Gombe, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Kaduna, Kwara, Nassarawa, Niger, Ogun, Ondo, Plateau, Rivers Sokoto, Yobe, Taraba, and Zamfara states.

NAN recalls that more than 749 pilgrims were reported to have died, and 805 others injured, during Thursday’s stampede on the way to the Jamrat complex (stoning site) in Mina, Saudi Arabia.