14 Indians Dead, 6 From AP, TS go Missing in Mecca

A day after the stampede in Mecca, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted that 14 Indians were killed and 13 others were injured.

HYDERABAD:  A day after the deadly stampede in Mecca, that claimed the lives of 717 Hajj pilgrims including two from Hyderabad, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted that 14 Indians were killed and 13 others were injured in the incident. “The exact number will be known after confirmation by Saudi authorities,” she added.

Till early in the morning IST, authorities confirmed 13 dead, which included eight from Gujarat, two each from Tamil Nadu and Jharkhand and one from Maharashtra.

Meanwhile, six pilgrims from the twin states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana were reported missing in the holy city. All efforts to gather information about the missing pilgrims proved futile.

According to Telangana State Hajj Committee’s help line centre, the status of six persons - Mohammad Sirajuddin of Mahaboobnagar district, Mohammad Hashim of Malakpet, Hyderabad, Ansari Khan and Ibrahim Khan of Kamareddy in Niazamabad district and Saleema Bi and Ali Ahmed from Chittoor district in Andhra Pradesh - is still unknown.

Relatives of these pilgrims said that they were present at Mina when the stampede took place. None of them contacted their family members after the incident. Hajj volunteers who visited their tents also returned disappointed. 

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