Mecca stampede: 22 Indians killed
"The number of Indian lives lost in Haj stampede has now risen to 22. Some more bodies are to be identified," Sushma Swaraj tweeted.
"We are facilitating visits of relatives of missing pilgrims and tour operators to the complex for identification," she said.
The stampede happened on Thursday in Mina at the intersection of two streets leading to Jamarat, about five km from Mecca, where pilgrims "stone the devil" in a ritual by throwing pebbles at three large pillars.
The worst tragedy in 25 years at the annual Muslim pilgrimage spurred King Salman of Saudi Arabia to order "a revision" of Haj organisation while authorities started a probe into the disaster.
Mina is a camp city, a few kilometres from Mecca, where pilgrims from across the world stay for several days during the Haj in a complex of white fireproof tents big enough to hold more than two million people.
This is the second major disaster at Mecca this month after over 100 people were killed on September 12, when a construction crane crashed on the Grand Mosque.
In 2006, 364 pilgrims were killed in a stampede during the stoning ritual in Mina, among them 51 Indians.
Helpline numbers released by Government of India:
00966125458000 00966125496000 Toll free number for pilgrims in Saudi Arabia : 8002477786
Support Our Journalism
We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism
IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.
Support objective journalism for a small contribution.
