Ahmedabad: As many as nine Haj pilgrims from Gujarat died in the grisly stampede that occurred at Mina yesterday which claimed 719 lives at Saudi Arabia.
The name of the deceased from Gujarat are Mohammad Hanif Hasanbhai Shaikh, Mohammad Madinabibi Mahammad Hanif, Diwan Ayubsha Bafaisah, Diwan Jubedabibi Aiyubsha, Soda Rehmat Qasam, Betara Fatmaben Karim, Bolim Havbai Ishak, Nagori Johrabibi Mahammadshafi and Nagori Rukhsana Mohammad Ishak, an official release said.
Fourteen Indian had died in the tragedy. The kin of Nagori Johrabibi Mahammadshafi and Nagori Rukhsana Mohammad Ishak, from here, mourned the death of their relatives.
"My mother and aunt had gone to Haj and we got news about their demise from my father yesterday. My brother Nayim, who had also accompanied my parents there, went missing after the incident," Salim Nagori, son of Johrabibi, said today.
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Meanwhile, Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel expressed her condolence to bereaved families.
"Deeply saddened by the unfortunate loss of lives including nine from Gujarat at Mecca stampede. My condolence to the bereaved families," Patel wrote on micr-blogging site Twitter.
Secretary of Gujarat Haj Samiti Usman Patel said all the nine deceased had gone to Mecca through some private tour operator, but other Haj pilgrims, who were sent by the state committee were safe.
The second biggest tragedy to hit the annual pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia took place yesterday due to a sudden surge in the number of pilgrims heading to Jamarat for symbolic stoning of the devil by throwing pebbles against three stone walls.
This is the second worst tragedy to hit the Haj after 1990, when 1,426 pilgrims were killed in a stampede inside a tunnel leading to holy sites.
The crush occurred after two massive lines of pilgrims converged on each other from different direction at an intersection close to the five-storey Jamarat Bridge in Mina for symbolic stoning of the devil.
