A new tally shows that the stampede during Hajj in Saudi Arabia’s Mina last month killed at least 1,453 people, making it the deadliest event to ever strike the annual pilgrimage.
The fresh death toll, compiled by news agency Associated Press, is 684 higher than Saudi Arabia’s official tally of 769 killed and 934 injured in the September 24 disaster.
The AP figure comes from statements and officials’ comments from 19 of the over 180 countries that sent citizens to the five-day annual pilgrimage.
The number of Bangladeshi pilgrims who died in the stampede has climbed to 79, according to the Bangladesh ambassador to Saudi Arabia.
Earlier in the day, Mohammad Ibrahim Bahar, president of Hajj Agencies Association of Bangladesh (HAAB), said that the number of dead Bangladeshi hajis was 67..
The bodies are in a hospital in Saudi Arabia, Ibrahim said. Twenty hajis are currently hospitalised, seven of them in critical condition.
Meanwhile, Iran says it had 465 pilgrims killed, while Egypt lost 148 and Indonesia 120.
Others include India with 101, Nigeria with 99, Pakistan with 93, Mali with 70, Senegal with 54, Benin with 51, Cameroon with 42, Ethiopia with 31, Sudan with 30, Morocco with 27, Algeria with 25, Ghana with 12, Chad with 11, Kenya with eight and Turkey with three. Hundreds remain missing, according to these countries.
When asked, Ibrahim could not tell exactly how many Bangladeshi pilgrims went missing on September 24.
But when contacted, Bangladeshi Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Golam Moshi said: “There are 109 Bangladeshis still missing.”
Relatives, accompanying pilgrims and hajj agents of the missing pilgrims have been requested to contact Bangladesh Hajj Mission at Mecca – Phone: 00966-(0)125413980, email-missionhajj@gmail.com – to help identify the dead bodies.
Saudi officials, who could not be immediately reached for comment yesterday, have previously said their tally remains accurate, though an investigation into the causes of the tragedy is ongoing.
Authorities have not updated their casualty toll since September 26, two days after the disaster.
The previous deadliest-ever incident happened in 1990, when a stampede killed 1,426 people.
Authorities have said the crush and stampede occurred when two waves of pilgrims converged on a narrow road, causing hundreds of people to suffocate or be trampled to death.
Sunni Saudi Arabia’s regional rival Shia-majority Iran has blamed the disaster on the kingdom’s “mismanagement” and accused Riyadh of a cover-up, saying the real death toll exceeds 4,700, without providing evidence to support the claim.
The country has called for an independent body to take over planning and administering the five-day Hajj pilgrimage, required of all able Muslims once in their lifetimes.