… Yet to account for 214 missing
… Hope of finding them dims – Commission
From Ismail Omipidan, Saudi Arabia
Fourteen days after the stampede, which claimed lives of several pilgrims in this year’s Hajj in Saudi Arabia, including Nigerians, National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), has confirmed the death of 99 Nigerian pilgrims.
But the Saudi Arabia authority is yet to release the official figure of the total number of casualties, which the Iranian – based Press TV put at over 4, 000.
The commission is yet to account for 214 missing Nigerian pilgrims, which multiple sources within the Kingdom claimed may have been feared dead, just as the commission also confirmed yesterday that the number of injured Nigerian pilgrims was now 42.
Briefing journalists yesterday in Makkah, the Commissioner in charge of Planning, Research, Statistics, Information and Library Service (PRSILS) of the commission, Dr. Saleh Okenwa, further disclosed that the total number of Nigerians affected in the incident was 355, as at press time.
He was, however, quick to add that those missing could not be declared dead, as, according to him, identification of affected victims were still being done by the Saudi Arabian health authorities, in collaboration with Nigerian health officials and other health officials of affected countries.
“The breakdown of the dead victims are as follows: 73 deaths from the State Pilgrim Welfare Boards , Agencies and Commissions, while the remaining 26 were from the tour operators.
“Those injured were 42, 41 from the state pilgrims and one from tour operators. The numbers of missing from the states were 96 males, 94 females and four males who were officials, totaling 194, while 10 males and 10 females were missing from the tour operators.
“Of those injured, only seven remain in the hospitals on admission and receiving treatments and others were discharged,” Okenwa said.
Asked about the fate of the missing Nigerians pilgrims, the Commissioner said: “In the early days, people expressed hope, but the hope is weaning. However, we cannot declared those missing as dead since there is no evidence to state that.”
Ends.
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