Off the wire
• Sri Lanka's national budget airline to resume flights to Maldives  • 4 soldiers killed in attacks in Afghanistan  • China supports Thailand's efforts to arrest Bangkok bomber  • 1st LD Writethru: 2.1 million Audi cars affected by emissions cheating scandal  • China Focus: Government dressing Xinjiang as textile industry leader  • China Focus: Training Xinjiang's rural people for better lives  • Major news items in leading German newspapers  • EU, China sign key partnership on 5G  • Urgent: 2.1 million Audi cars affected by emissions cheating scandal  • Zambia dismisses Moody's economic assessment  
You are here: 　 Home

Nigeria says 54 citizens died in hajj stampede

Xinhua, September 28, 2015 Adjust font size:

Nigerian authorities on Monday said 54 citizens of the West African country died in the ill-fated hajj exercise that resulted in a stampede last Thursday in Saudi Arabia.

In a statement, chairman of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria, Abdullahi Mukhtar, said 61 other pilgrims also sustained injuries during the incident.

Among the deceased Nigerian pilgrims, 42 were transported to Saudi Arabia by provincial pilgrims' welfare agencies while a dozen others embarked on the pilgrimage through private tour operators, the official said.

The deceased pilgrims came from 15 states across Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, the official said.

On Saturday, the country also started a headcount of its citizens who went on holy pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia to determine the number of pilgrims involved in the fatal incident.

An investigation is also underway to ascertain the number of Nigerian pilgrims still missing in Mina.

A total of 769 pilgrims died in the incident, according to Saudi Arabian authorities. Endit