Nigerian Crane Victims Buried In Mecca

Nigeria’s Consul-General to Saudi Arabia
Ahmed Umar said on Sunday that the six Nigerian
Pilgrims who died in the Sept. 11 crane crash in Mecca
had been buried.
Briefing newsmen in Jeddah, he said the bodies were
buried on Sept. 18, in a “specially designated cemetery’’
in Mecca, where all victims of the crash were also buried.
The consul-general, who led a delegation of the
consulate and National Hajj Commission of Nigeria
(NAHCON) at the burial, said the bodies were buried after
receiving invitation of the Saudi Authority.
He said the consulate and NAHCON officials were fully
engaged in the burial arrangement that took place on
Friday evening.
He also said that the six Nigerian pilgrims that sustained
injuries during the incident had received special attention.
He said some of them had been discharged while others
were still in the hospital responding to treatment.
He said consulate had also organised officials of the
affected states in the event of pay-out of the money
recently announced by Saudi authority for the victims.
Saudi Authority had announced that it would give 1m
Riyals –about N53.1m — to the families of each of the
deceased.
Similarly, the authority announced that those who
sustained permanent disability would also get the same
amount while others with minor injury would get half of
the amount.
The consul-general, however, said that the money would
be given to relations of the deceased and other victims of
the crash.
He said that the Nigerian government was surprised with
the kind gesture of King Salman bin Abdulazeez, who
donated the money to the families of the affected
pilgrims.
Umar assured Nigerians and families of the victims that
the money would be delivered to the right persons.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that six
Nigerians were among the 111 pilgrims who died during
the Sept. 11 crane crash at the Holy Mosque, Ka’aba in
Mecca, Saudi Arabia.
Six Nigerians were also among the 321 pilgrims who
sustained degrees of injury during the incident.(NAN)