Seven more Indian Haj pilgrims dead, toll 29

New Delhi: Seven more Indian Haj pilgrims died in the stampede at Makkah in Saudi Arabia, taking the toll to 29, the Indian mission in Jeddah revealed.

The Haj Mission in Jeddah put up a list of seven Indian dead pilgrims, which included five from Kerala and one each from Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh.

The seven from Kerala were: Faaiz Abdul Muneer Veettil, Amina Beevi Mohammed Shafi Musaliar, Abdul Rahiman Asarithodi, Puthu Veettil Kunhimon and Moinuddin Abdul Kader. The dead from Uttar Pradesh was identified as Anvar Janha, and the one from Jharkhand as Mansurul Haque.

On Saturday, the government announced eight more deaths, and said that with more bodies being identified from among the 769 deaths reported in Thursday's stampede, the toll could go up.

On Saturday, two Haj pilgrims from Kerala, and two each from Jharkhand and Gujarat, one each from Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh were reported.

Of the list of 14 dead announced on Friday, nine victims were from Gujarat, while two each belonged to Jharkhand and Tamil Nadu and one was from Maharashtra.

(IANS)