According to him, “it was said by Saudi authorities that the Nigerians involved are from the northern part of the country”. Iranian state television showed similar protests in several other Iranian cities.
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Leader of the Shiite Islamic Movement in Nigeria, his eminence, Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky says the management of hajj pilgrimage and the two holy mosques and other sanctities in Saudi Arabia is the responsibility of the Muslims world, and not exclusive reserve of the Al-Saud royal family. We have no communication with any of the 3 person soon after the incident.
Addressing a press conference, Fazal said 40 bodies of Pakistani pilgrims had been identified so far.
Justice Abdulkadir Jega, the brother of the former chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Attahiru Jega, has dead in the stampede in Mecca.
It was the second major accident this year for pilgrims, after a construction crane collapsed on September 11 at Meccas Grand Mosque, Islams holiest site, killing 109 people, including many foreigners.
The kingdom’s leaders have ordered an inquiry into the catastrophe – the deadliest to strike the annual Muslim pilgrimage in 1 / 4-century – and a “revision” of its organisation, with the deaths elevating tensions with regional rival Iran as properly.
“A lot of money has been spent in Mecca, so there will be questions about accountability”, Crispin Hawes, managing director of Teneo Intelligence, said in a phone interview.
Earlier on Sunday, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had given a hint of the extent of the tragedy, when she tweeted that Saudi authorities had given 1090 photos to confirm identity. Five days on, the relevant minister and the DG Hajj are still unable to give definite figures of the dead, wounded and missing pilgrims.
“We are also setting up a special emergency hotline tonight so people can get information”.
The stampede began at around 9am Thursday.
“They don’t have a clue how to engage with these people”, said Irfan al-Alawi, co-founder of the Mecca-based Islamic Heritage Research Foundation. Alzahrani said civil defense authorities would be responsible for announcing any new death toll, though most recently they relied on Health Ministry statistics.
On Saturday, the government announced eight more deaths, and said with more bodies being identified from among the 769 deaths reported in Thursday’s stampede, the toll could go up.
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The Church of England offered up prayers for victims of the tragedy.
