The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) on Tuesday said 10 more corpses of deceased Nigerian pilgrims had been identified, bringing the number of pilgrims who died at Mina stampede, to 64.
Updating journalists on latest developments, Uba Mana, NAHCON’s director of public affairs, said 244 pilgrims had been officially declared missing.
Mana said 71 pilgrims were injured as against the 61 pilgrims earlier announced by the commission.
He said of the 64 deceased pilgrims, 46 were transported to Saudi Arabia by state pilgrims’ welfare agencies and 18 by private tour operators.
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Mana also said that 12 of the 71 injured pilgrims were transported to Saudi Arabia by tour operators and 59 by state pilgrims’ welfare agencies.
He listed the states of the deceased as Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Ekiti, Jigawa, FCT, Cross Rivers, Gombe, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Kaduna, Kwara, Nassarawa, Niger, Ogun, Ondo, Plateau, Rivers Sokoto, Yobe, Taraba, and Zamfara.
The Saudi authorities said over 700 people died in the incident but a Nigerian official told the BBC earlier on Tuesday that more than 1, 000 were killed in the incident.
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President Muhmmadu Buhari has directed NAHCON to account for all Nigerian pilgrims.
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