28th September, 2015
A breakdown of the Nigerian pilgrims killed in Thursday’s stampede in Mina, Saudi Arabia has revealed that pilgrims from Cross River and Ondo States were among the dead.
The Chairman, National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), Alhaji Abdullahi Mukhtar, on Monday at a news conference in Makkah confirmed that 54 Nigerians were killed in the stampede and 61 were injured.
Pilgrims from other states who died in the stampede include Bauchi, Borno, Jigawa, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Nassarawa, Niger, Ogun, Sokoto, Yobe, Taraba, and Zamfara.
The NAHCON chairman did not however give a breakdown of the number of pilgrims per state.
At least 717 pilgrims died and 805 others injured in the stampede when about two million pilgrims trooped to perform the ritual of the symbolic stoning of the devil.
MuKhtar said the commission had set up three committees to condole with the families of the deceased, arrange befitting burial for the deceased and to collate information from eye witnesses.