Hajj stampede: Nigeria’s death toll hits 145

The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) yesterday said the death toll of Nigerians in the stampede in Mina, Saudi Arabia has increased to 145.

It added that 345 Nigerians were affected in the September 24 stampede with the injured standing at 35.

One hundred and sixty-five pilgrims were still missing, the commission said.

The commission’s Commissioner for Planning, Research, Statistic Information and Library Service (PRSILS), Dr. Saleh Okenwa, told reporters in Makkah that seven Nigerians were responding to treatments in hospital.

He spoke at a joint news conference of the commission’s top management with the Chargé d’Affaires, Nigerian Embassy in Riyadh, Ambassador Tijjani Hammanjoda and the Nigerian Consul-General to Saudi Arabia, Ambassador Ahmed Umar, on the 2015 Hajj exercise and update on the stampede.

The commission’s Commissioner of Operations, Alhaji Ibrahim Modibbo Saleh, said 29 of the 145 that died were from the tour operators. Nineteen were males and 10 were females.

Saleh said one person was injured and 21 of those missing were also from the tour operators.

“Those declared missing cannot be declared dead, since their corpses have not been identified and there are ongoing efforts to located them or identify their remains among the dead,” he said.

Chairman of Medical Committee Dr. Ibrahim Kana said autopsies were being carried out on some of the corpses to ascertain the cause of their deaths and that some of the families of those that died have received the death certificates of their loved ones.

He added that while the DNA matchings have been done for some of the immediate families of the victims in the holy land for identification, efforts were on to ensure that others in Nigeria can travel to Saudi Arabia or submit their blood sample for matching.