The death toll from the stampede that struck the Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia last month has risen to at least 2177 pilgrims, according to latest figures.
Nigeria’s casualty figure of 199 is third on the list, with Iran and Mali coming first and second with 464 and 254 dead respectively.
Saudi Arabia has yet to provide an updated death toll after saying 769 people died in the tragedy near Mecca, home of Islam’s holiest sites.
Saudi authorities have also not issued a breakdown by nationality or a toll for any casualties among its own nationals.
Many Muslim pilgrims have still not been accounted for following the September 24 stampede at the hajj, one of the largest annual gatherings in the world.
But foreign governments have provided numbers on pilgrims killed from their countries.
Iran leads all the affected countries, saying it had 465 pilgrims killed. Many of the dead also came from Africa. Mali said it lost 254 people, while Nigeria lost 199, Cameroon lost 76, Niger lost 72, Senegal lost 61, and Ivory Coast and Benin both lost 52.
Others include Egypt with 182, Bangladesh with 137, Indonesia with 126, India with 116, Pakistan with 102, Ethiopia with 47, Chad with 43, Morocco with 36, Algeria with 33, Sudan with 30, Burkina Faso with 22, Tanzania with 20, Somalia with 10, Kenya with eight, Ghana and Turkey with seven, Myanmar and Libya with six, China with four, Afghanistan with two and Jordan and Malaysia with one.
The previous deadliest-ever incident at hajj was a 1990 stampede that killed 1426 people.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Naif bin Abdul Aziz, who is also the kingdom’s interior minister, oversaw a meeting late Sunday about the disaster in Mina, according to the official Saudi Press Agency. The agency’s report did not mention any official response to the rising death toll.
“The crown prince was reassured on the progress of the investigations,” the SPA report said. “He directed the committee’s members to continue their efforts to find the causes of the accident, praying to Allah Almighty to accept the martyrs and wishing the injured a speedy recovery.”
King Salman ordered the investigation into the disaster, the deadliest in the history of the annual pilgrimage. It came after a crane collapse in Mecca earlier that month killed 111 worshippers, and the twin disasters marred the first hajj to be overseen by the king since he ascended to the throne at the start of this year.
The Saudi king holds the title of “Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques,” and the monarchy’s supervision of the hajj is a source of great prestige in the Muslim world.
