Seven more Indians dead in Hajj stampede, death toll of Indians reaches 29

Mina: The death toll of Indian pilgrims in last week’s horrific stampede during Hajj on Sunday rose to 29 as authorities identified seven more bodies among the victims of the worst incident in 25 years to strike the annual pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia. Hajj Consulate in Jeddah identified the deceased as Mansurul Haque (Jharkhand), Anvar Janha (UP), F A Muneer Veetil, Amina Beevi, Abdul Rahiman Asarithodi, P V Kunhimon and Moiuddin Abdul Kader (all from Kerala). [caption id=“attachment_2446628” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Image courtesy: AP[/caption] Saudi authorities have put the total death toll from the stampede during Haj to 769. The number of injured stands at 934. At least 13 Indians were among those injured. King Salman has ordered the formation of a committee to probe the deadly incident during the five-day pilgrimage in which around two million people from over 180  countries took part. From India, 1.5 lakh pilgrims performed Hajj. The stampede broke out after two massive lines of pilgrims converged on each other from different directions at an intersection close to the five-storey Jamarat Bridge in Mina for symbolic stoning of the devil. This was the second major accident this year for pilgrims, after a construction crane collapsed on September 11 at Mecca’s Grand Mosque, killing over 100 people,  including 11 Indians. PTI