By Saber Ayyub.
Tripoli, 30 September 2015:
The Libyan death toll from last week’s Haj stampede has risen to eight, the Libyan Haj . . .[restrict]Mission, has said adding that a further 14 local pilgrims are still missing.
As had happened earlier, the bodies were identified through photographs of the victims released by the Saudis. However, the mission said that its people would continue to check the injured in Mecca hospitals to try and find the remaining Libyan pilgrims.
Saudi officials have said that Haj stampede left 769 people dead and 934 others injured from at least 20 countries including Libya. They strongly deny reports that more than a thousand were killed, saying that the 1010 photographs of victims that they have circulated include the 107 killed in the Grand Mosque crane collapse and individuals among the two million pilgrims who had died from a range of unrelated reasons.
The stampede occurred when two groups of pilgrims merged facing each other at a designated location for the Haj’s last major rite, which is throwing stones at pillars symbolising Satan. This is the worst loss of life during the pilgrimage for 25 years. [/restrict]
