The federal minister for Religious and Interfaith Harmony Sardar Muhammad Yousaf confirmed earlier today, the death of six Pakistani pilgrims in Mina, outside Makkah, due to stampede.
Talking to a private TV channel, the minister, sharing the information, said two women hailing from Karachi, identified as Hifsa and Nasreen have martyred. Their relatives have been informed about the deaths, he added.
The Minister said officials of Al-Noor Hospital had also confirmed the deaths of another four Pakistani pilgrims who have not yet been identified.
Sardar Yousaf said that three Pakistani pilgrims including Attique, his spouse and Younas Mirza were injured in the incident.
However, he said, that the arrangements made by Saudi government for Hajj were remarkable but the incident took place due to stampede.
Saudi Arabia’s civil defense has so far confirmed 717 deaths in the stampede. The incident took place near Maktab Number 93 where mostly Algerian pilgrims were staying.
Red alert has been issued in the hospitals particularly Mina where the injured pilgrims have been shifted.
Meanwhile, Pakistani Hajj Mission in Mina has set up an emergency helpline number 00966125277537 to get information about Pakistani pilgrims.
Pakistan’s Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Manzoorul Haq said information was being gathered from Makkah hospitals about Pakistani pilgrims, if any.
Read: 717 pilgrims martyred, 863 injured in Mina stampede
A spokesman of Saudi Directorate of Civil Defense said the incident took place at 9am (Saudi time) due to congestion and severe heat.
Giving details, he said pilgrims were flocking to Jamarat site to throw pebbles at grand Jamarat Aqabah and the number increased all of sudden.
The spokesman said that soon after the falling of a large number of pilgrims during stampede, the security men and Saudi Red Crescent Authority’s personnel rushed there to control the situation. They prevented the pilgrims’ traffic towards the site and for rescue operation.
He said the operation had been completed in the area with all the dead and injured shifted to hospitals.
