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JEDDAH (Saudi Arabia), Jan 15 (AFP): Grieving relatives Sunday were still identifying victims of the hajj stampede that killed 363 people, as families from Egypt to Indonesia mourned the worst Mecca pilgrimage disaster since 1990.
Nationals from Southeast Asia appeared to be worst hit in the stampede at the entrance of the Jamarat bridge in Mina, east of Mecca, Thursday where more than half a million pilgrims had massed.
Pakistan said it lost 44 pilgrims on the last day of the perilous stoning of the devil ritual while neighbouring India said at least 28 of its citizens were killed and almost 100 still missing.
The deputy director of the morgue outside Mina, Hussein Bahashwan, had also said that as many as 100 Egyptians may be among the dead but health ministry spokesman Khaled al-Mirghalani said his comment was "speculative".
Interior ministry spokesman Mansur al-Turki told reporters that 203 pilgrims were identified but provided the nationalities of only 179 including 10 Egyptians, 44 Indians, 37 Pakistanis, 18 Saudis, 11 Bangladeshis, seven Yemenis, six Sudanese, six Maldivans, five Afghans and one German among others.
Turkey said Friday that 12 of its pilgrims where killed in the stampede, the worst since July 1990 when 1,426 pilgrims were trampled or asphyxiated to death in a stampede in a tunnel in Mina.
Pilgrims continued to flock Saturday to the Al-Muayasem morgue to search for their missing loved one among the pictures of the dead posted on a wall or shown on a television screen.
The deputy director of the morgue said "pilgrims are still coming in large numbers to search for their missing relatives or to take their bodies."
Another report adds: Families from Egypt to Indonesia grappled Saturday with the aftermath of the stampede that killed 363 during the annual pilgrimage to Mecca as Saudi authorities distanced themselves from blame for the incident.
Nationals from Southeast Asia appeared to be worst hit in the stampede at the entrance of the Jamarat bridge in Mina east of Mecca on Thursday where more than half a million pilgrims had massed on the last day of the perilous stoning of the devil ritual.
Pakistan said it lost 44 pilgrims while neighbouring India said at least 28 of its citizens were killed and almost 100 still missing.
The deputy director of the morgue outside Mina Hussein Bahashwan had also said that as many as 100 Egyptians may be among the dead but health ministry spokesman Khaled al-Mirghalani said his comment was "speculative".
Interior ministry spokesman Mansur al-Turki told reporters that 203 pilgrims were identified but provided the nationalities of only 179 including 10 Egyptians, 44 Indians, 37 Pakistanis, 18 Saudis, 11 Bengalis, seven Yemenis, six Sudanese, six Maldivians, five Afghanis and one German among others.
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