Hajj stampede: Nigeria suffered 280 fatalities, 43 pilgrims still missing; as committee submits report

43 Nigerians out of the 75,081 pilgrims who attended this year’s Hajj are still missing, according to the report submitted to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Engr. Babachir David Lawal, Wednesday, by the committee.

The report also informed that Nigeria recorded a total of 280 deaths from the two tragic events which occurred during the 2015 Hajj in Saudi Arabia.

It stated that, “A total of 75,081 Nigerian Pilgrims participated in the 2015 Hajj exercise out of which 280 died in both the crane incident at the Grand Mosque in Makkah on September 11, 2015 and the stampede recorded in Mina on September 24, 2015, while the status of 43 people remain unascertained.”

The SGF while receiving the report commended the Hajj Commission for its exemplary performance in Saudi Arabia, especially, during the tragedies that occurred.

Lawal said he was particularly impressed with the conduct of the chairman of the Hajj Commission, Alhaji Abdullahi Mohammed, in providing the government and general public, adequate and incontrovertible information throughout the crisis and assured the commission that the report will receive the prompt attention of the government.

According to a statement yesterday by the director, Press, office of the SGF, Bolaji Adebiyi, the Hajj Commission chairman while presenting the report, noted that the 2015 Hajj was the most eventful in the history of Hajj operations in Nigeria with pilgrims witnessing two tragic events.

Mohammed used the occasion to once again, condole with President Muhammadu Buhari, families of victims and all Nigerians on the loss of lives. He explained that the report submitted contains observations and recommendations that will ensure more successes during future Hajj exercises, while noting however, that all outbound and inbound flights were concluded well ahead of schedule during the 2015 Hajj.