Egypt death toll in Haj stampede continues to rise, reaches 146

Monday 05-10-2015 04:30 PM
Egypt death toll in Haj stampede continues to rise, reaches 146

Hundreds died in a stampede in the tent city of Mena as Muslims preformed pilgrimage, on Sept. 24, 2015. Handout from the Saudi civil defence Twitter account

By

CAIRO, Oct 5 (Aswat Masriya) - The death toll of Egyptians killed during the Haj stampede last month climbed from 138 on Sunday to 146, Egypt's consul general in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia said on Monday.

The number of Egyptians reported missing fell from 96 announced by Egypt's endowments minister on Sunday to 92, Consul General Adel al-Alfi said in a statement by Egypt's Foreign Ministry. He added that 11 Egyptians remain injured by the attack. 

A stampede in the Saudi tent city of Mina on Sept. 24 left 769 dead when pilgrims either suffocated or were trampled while preforming Haj, one of the five pillars of Islam.  

Alfi said officials from Saudi Arabia's interior and health ministries are working to quickly identify the bodies and are providing updates to the consulate. 

Pictures of dozens of Egyptians who went to Saudi for pilgrimage are being circulated on social media by family members who have lost contact with them. Many of them are senior citizens. 

On Monday, three Egyptian hospitals started collecting the DNA samples of the relatives of missing people to compare them with yet unidentified bodies in Saudi hospitals. 

The Egyptian consulate in Jeddah has uploaded photos of unidentified persons killed and injured during the stampede to its official Facebook page and asked relatives of missing persons to identify them.

Alfi said the consulate is still receiving calls from the families of missing people and is answering their questions based on the information available. 

The stampede has killed and injured people from across the world, including over 450 from Iran, according to Iranian news sources.

The incident has sparked tensions between the Saudi Kingdom and Iran, the latter accusing Saudi authorities of "mismanaging the pilgrimage". 

facebook comments