Tanzania Mecca death toll now 22
Muslim pilgrims gather to perform noon and afternoon prayers at Namira Mosque in Mount Arafat, southeast of the Saudi holy city of Mecca. Photo|Library
What you need to know:
Latest casualties were among 50 Tanzanians who went missing after the stampede which happened at the holy site where the symbolic ritual of stoning the devil is performed by pilgrims.
Dar es Salaam. The number of Tanzanians who died during the deadly Hajj stampede in Mecca last month has now reached 22 after two more deaths were confirmed yesterday.
The two were among 50 Tanzanians who went missing after the stampede which happened at the holy site where the symbolic ritual of stoning the devil is performed by hajjis.
International press have put the death toll of the Hajj crush and stampede at 1,453 although Saudi Arabia officials have maintained their official figure of 769 killed.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation yesterday released names of two other victims who are among the Tanzanians who died in the tragedy. They are Ms Hafsa Sharrif Saleh Abdallah and Khadija Hamad Hemed. The statement further said Saudi Arabia government continues to gather information on the hajjis who died, were injured or went missing after the tragedy.
Seven hajjis from Tanzania who went missing were 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.
Earlier this month the ministry said Tanzania’s embassy in Saudi Arabia is studying the finger print details to see if there are yet other unidentified Tanzanians.
Meanwhile the ministry has asked those who are yet to get information of their missing relatives to exercise patience as Saudi authorities are finalizing taking DNA details of the unidentified dead pilgrims.
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.
