15 Nigerians confirmed killed in hajj mishap

At least 15 Nigerians have been confirmed killed, as at Saturday, in the stampede that occurred in Saudi Arabia on the last day of the 2015 pilgrimage.

The pilgrims had assembled in Mina, outside Mecca, to throw pebbles at one of three walls representing Satan, the symbolic ‘stoning of the devil’ but before the exercise was over, more than 700 people had crossed to the great beyond.

At a press conference on Saturday, the Saudi authorities said the death toll from the worst disaster in a quarter-century to strike the annual event, had risen from 717 to 769 and injuries from 856 to 934.

With over 100 confirmed dead, Iran is one of the countries with the highest causalities.

Already, Nigeria has established at least 15 victims, and the figure is likely change in the days to come.

While the Gombe state pilgrims board has declared seven persons missing, Rivers cannot account for six of its pilgrims.

In Taraba, Abbas Ibrahim, a prominent traditional ruler and two of his four wives have been buried in Makkah after losing their lives in the incident.

So far, Sokoto state has the highest causalities in Nigeria, with nine persons said to have been affected.

Bilkisu Yusuf, a prominent journalist, Tijjani Al Miskin, a renowned scholar and a medical doctor were the first set of Nigerian victims to be identified.

Some Nigerians are also responding to treatments in different hospitals across Saudi as a result of injuries sustained in the incident.