Sudan says 30 of its nationals dead in Hajj stampede

October 8, 2015 (KHARTOUM) – The Sudanese government revised upwards the number of its citizens who died in the stampede that occurred near the Muslim holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia last month.

However Associated Press (AP) news agency did a separate tally based on figures from individual governments and came up with a death toll of 1,399 pilgrims.

The AP count of the dead is based on tolls offered by 18 of the over 100 countries that took part in the hajj this year. Iran said it had 465 pilgrims killed, while Egypt lost 148 and Indonesia 120.

Others include Nigeria with 99, Pakistan with 89, India with 81, Mali with 70, Bangladesh with 63, Senegal with 54, Benin with 51, Cameroon with 42, Ethiopia with 31, Morocco with 27, Algeria with 25, Ghana with 12, Chad with 11, Kenya with eight and Turkey with three.

Sudan initially said that 9 were killed, 20 went missing and 13 were injured. Eight others died of natural causes.

The Sudanese minister of Guidance and Endowments al-Fatih Tagelsir said “that the [Hajj] mission has accounted for 30 martyrs while two Sudanese pilgrims remain missing”.

He said that the Sudanese Hajj mission upon hearing the news of the crush incident formed an operation and an emergency room to follow up on the conditions of Sudanese pilgrims closely.

This is the deadliest accident to occur during the annual hajj pilgrimage season since 1990 when 1,426 pilgrims suffocated in a tunnel near Mecca.

(ST)