Diaspora News of Wednesday, 14 October 2015

Source: tv3network.com

Dead Ghanaians in Hajj disaster buried in S. Arabia

The stampede occurred in a street between pilgrim camps in Mina [Saudi civil defence handout] The stampede occurred in a street between pilgrim camps in Mina [Saudi civil defence handout]

The 10 Ghanaians who lost their lives in the deadly stampede at Mina in Saudi Arabia during the 2015 Hajj will be buried in the Islamic country, according to Ghanaian officials.

Some have been buried already as per Islamic rites, TV3 has gathered.

Speaking on TV3’s Midday Live on Wednesday, October 14, Alhaji Mohammed Amin Lamptey, the Deputy Communications Officer of the Pilgrims Affairs Office said the decision to bury the victims in the Islamic holy land was taken with family members of the deceased.

Five other Ghanaian pilgrims who died through natural causes have also been buried.

He said the bodies of some of the dead in the stampede was mutilated to the extent that it was difficult to fly them back home.

Alhaji Amin Lamptey, however, indicated that efforts to find about 25 missing Ghanaians have not abated though pilgrims have begun returning home.

The first batch of pilgrims touched down in Accra on Monday afternoon with the second and third already in the country.

Nine more flights are expected to carry the fresh Alhajis and Hajias into the country, Amin Lamptey said.

The Pilgrims Affairs Office last week published the names of Ghanaian victims of the deadly September 24 stampede.