Number of Egyptian deaths in hajj stampede hits 181

The number of Egyptians confirmed killed in the hajj crowd disaster in Saudi Arabia last month has risen to 181, Egypt’s minister of religious endowments told state news agency MENA late Sunday.

Mohamed Mokhtar Gomaa also told MENA that the number of Egyptians considered missing after the event has decreased to 53, according to information provided by the Egyptian consulate in Jeddah to the ministry.

The ministry will publish a list of the names of the Egyptians who were killed or who are missing on its website as soon as Egyptian consulate sends them to the ministry, Gomaa said.

Earlier on Sunday, the Egyptian consulate in Jeddah had announced that the number Egyptians who died was 177.

The Egyptian consulate and the official hajj delegations are following up on the situation in coordination with the ministry of religious endowments.

Exact numbers of the number of pilgrims killed in the event are not known, but estimates suggest that over a thousand perished during the crowd crush a site on the hajj pilgrimage route where pilgrims throw pebbles at a wall representing Satan.

Saudi authorities are conducting investigations into the tragedy.

Source: Ahram Online