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Iran's Rouhani back in Tehran to mourn victims of Hajj stampede

Xinhua, September 29, 2015 Adjust font size:

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani cut short his visit to New York and returned to Tehran on Tuesday to commemorate Iranian pilgrims killed in the latest Hajj stampede in Saudi Arabia, official IRNA news agency reported.

After delivering a speech at the UN General Assembly on Monday, Rouhani cancelled some of his meetings with officials of other countries and returned home.

Upon his arrival, Rouhani issued a decree whereby Vice President Es'hag Jahangiri was tasked to establish a committee to study the disaster in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, which claimed the lives of at least 228 Iranian pilgrims.

Also in the incident, 28 Iranian pilgrims were injured and 248 others missing, according to IRNA.

On Tuesday, local Tasnim news agency quoted Tehran Governor General Seyed Hossein Hashemi as saying that the dead bodies of 130 Iranian pilgrims are due to be transferred to Tehran on Tuesday and a commemoration ceremony will be followed.

According to Saudi officials, over 760 Muslim pilgrims have died during the stampede at the annual Hajj pilgrimage in Mina near Mecca on Thursday.

The Saudi interior ministry said the crush appears to have been caused by two waves of pilgrims meeting at an intersection. Endit