Haj stampede: Nine of 14 Indians dead from Gujarat

New Delhi, Sep 25 (IANS) Nine people from Gujarat were among the 14 Indian Haj pilgrims killed in Thursday’s stampede near Makkah in Saudi Arabia, while two each are from Jharkhand and Tamil Nadu and one from Maharashtra, according to a list of the victims released by the Indian mission in Jeddah.

According to the list put up on the Facebook site of the Haj Mission, Indian consulate, Jeddah – the nine Gujaratis are Mohammad Hasan Hanif Bhai Shaikh, Shaikh Madinabibi Mahammad Hanif, Divan Ayubshah Bafaishah, Divan Jubedabibi Ayubshah, Soda Rehman Qasam, Betara Fatmaben Karim, Bolim Havbai Ishak, Nagori Johrabibi Mahmadshafi and Nagori Rukhsana Mohammed Ishak.

The two from Tamil Nadu were Shamshudeen Mohamed Ebrahim and Mohideen Pitchai Mohideen Pitchal; the two from Jharkhand were Mohammed Rustam Ali and Niazul-Haque Mansurul Haque, while the lone person from Maharashtra was Saleem Yusuf Shaikh.

Among the 13 injured, two each are from West Bengal, Jammu and Kashmir, and one each from Maharashtra, Lakshadweep, Assam, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Bihar, Gujarat and Rajasthan.

At least 717 people have been confirmed dead in Thursday’s stampede, the worst tragedy to hit the world’s holiest Muslim pilgrimage in 25 years, while over 800 were injured.