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Four Indians among dead in hajj stampede: Official
There were four Indians among the 244 pilgrims who died in Mecca, Indian Consul General in Mina told a TV channel.
Four Indians were among those killed in a stampede on Sunday during the "stoning of Satan" ritual at Mina, near Mecca, at the annual hajj pilgrimage, an official of the Indian embassy in Saudi Arabia said.
Of them, two were identified as pilgrims from Kerala and from Jammu and Kashmir, Indian Consul General in Mina, Sayeed Akbaruddin, told NDTV news channel.
According to the Saudi interior ministry, jostling among pilgrims who were stoning a pillar symbolising Satan resulted in several people falling, some of whom were killed.
Akbaruddin said that Saudi officials had moved quickly to take control of the situation, which was soon brought under control.
Last year 14 pilgrims, including six women, were killed in a stampede during the first day of the stoning ritual and 35 in 2001, while the 1998 hajj saw 118 killed and more than 180 hurt at Mina.
