Hajj death toll now 7 as more names released
Tanzanian pilgrims arrive at Julius Nyerere International Airport in Dar es Salaam on Tuesday from Saudi Arabia where they had gone for Hajj. PHOTO | OMAR FUNGO
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According to a press statement from the Foreign Affairs ministry, the two are Athuman Mateso Chaulana and Ahmed Said Bawazir who were identified by embassy officials following the release of photos of all dead pilgrims by Saudi government on Tuesday.
Dar es Salaam. The death toll of Tanzanian pilgrims from the last Thursday’s deadly hajj stampede in Mina reached seven after two more were confirmed dead yesterday.
According to a press statement from the Foreign Affairs ministry, the two are Athuman Mateso Chaulana and Ahmed Said Bawazir who were identified by embassy officials following the release of photos of all dead pilgrims by Saudi government on Tuesday.
Other dead Tanzanians who were earlier identified included Mwanaisha Juma, Khadija Shekali Mohammed, Mr Mkungwe Hemed, Sefu Kitimla and Shafi Khamis Ali.
50 Tanzanians also went missing after the stampede which happened at the holy site where the symbolic ritual of stoning the devil is performed by hajjis.
In a positive development the ministry yesterday released names of seven Tanzanians who were missing but have been found alive. They are Mr Ali Abdulrahman (Abidina), Mr Abdallah Hassan Pande, Mr Suleiman Ali Kidogoli, Mr Mohammed Salum, Mr Mwadini Hassan, Ms Habiba Ramadhan Ali (Maulana)and Mr Ramadhan Muhsin.
The ministry also released 19 new names of the still missing Tanzanians. On Tuesday another 18 names were released, bringing the number of known missing Tanzanians to 37.
The 19 include Juma Bajuka,Masoud Juma, Issa Amir Faki, Juma Jecha Dabu, Nassor Mohammed Hemed, Mohamed Awadh Namongo, Juma Bakula, Said Habib, Hamis Juma Shamte, Khadija Hamad and Rahma Salim.
Others are Hadija Abdallah Sefu, Farida Khamis, Laila Manunga, Hawa Amrani Khamis, Saida Awadhi,Maimuna Seleman Ruwaly, Jalia Kassim Mashule and Nuru Omar Karama.
According to the statement, officials of Tanzanian high commission in Saudi Arabia, representatives of all Hajj travel agencies and the Tanzania Hajj Mission are still studying photos of the dead pilgrims and still visiting hospitals to find if there are still surviving Tanzanians or even the dead.
The stampede has claimed the lives of more than 780 people, injuring more than 950 while over 1000 from nearly 40 nations are yet to be accounted for. There has been a history of crowd tragedies during the hajj, the deadliest being recorded in 1990 when 1,426 were trampled or suffocated in a stampede in an overcrowded pedestrian tunnel leading to Mecca’s holy sites.
