RUCCI
JF-Expert Member
- Oct 6, 2011
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The whereabouts of scores of Tanzanian pilgrims are still unknown.
Such pilgrims went missing on Thursday after a stampede occurred at Mina, leading to deaths of 717 people.
Reports show up to 60 Tanzanians are reported missing. They went for pilgrimage and efforts to establish where they are have been painstakingly slow.
Officials from the Tanzanian Embassy in Saudi Arabia have been combing hospitals in Mecca to find out if those reported missing are among the more than 800 victims admitted.
Back home, families of those missing are praying that their relatives will be found alive. One family member whose elderly mother was in Mecca told The Citizen they had not heard from her since the news of the stampede broke out but said they were optimistic she would be found alive.
"My wife is reportedly missing and is among 40 who cannot be accounted for up to now in their group. But we remain optimistic she will come back home alive," said the woman's husband who asked that his name should not be published.
The acting Tanzanian ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Mr Ahmada Sufiani, told The Citizen over phone yesterday that until 5pm yesterday, there was no new concrete information to share with the public.
"We are all struggling to get the information from all our people. I am afraid I don't have an answer right now but every one of us is trying to gather details about the situation," he said. The government confirmed on Thursday that four Tanzanians had died in the stampede, the second deadliest in the history of hajj.
Those confirmed dead are Mwanaisha Juma, Mkungwe Hemedi and Seif Kitimla. Another woman victim had not been identified.
Saudi authorities have yet to provide a breakdown of the nationalities of the 717 pilgrims killed but several foreign countries have announced the deaths of nationals.
Source: The Citizen
Such pilgrims went missing on Thursday after a stampede occurred at Mina, leading to deaths of 717 people.
Reports show up to 60 Tanzanians are reported missing. They went for pilgrimage and efforts to establish where they are have been painstakingly slow.
Officials from the Tanzanian Embassy in Saudi Arabia have been combing hospitals in Mecca to find out if those reported missing are among the more than 800 victims admitted.
Back home, families of those missing are praying that their relatives will be found alive. One family member whose elderly mother was in Mecca told The Citizen they had not heard from her since the news of the stampede broke out but said they were optimistic she would be found alive.
"My wife is reportedly missing and is among 40 who cannot be accounted for up to now in their group. But we remain optimistic she will come back home alive," said the woman's husband who asked that his name should not be published.
The acting Tanzanian ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Mr Ahmada Sufiani, told The Citizen over phone yesterday that until 5pm yesterday, there was no new concrete information to share with the public.
"We are all struggling to get the information from all our people. I am afraid I don't have an answer right now but every one of us is trying to gather details about the situation," he said. The government confirmed on Thursday that four Tanzanians had died in the stampede, the second deadliest in the history of hajj.
Those confirmed dead are Mwanaisha Juma, Mkungwe Hemedi and Seif Kitimla. Another woman victim had not been identified.
Saudi authorities have yet to provide a breakdown of the nationalities of the 717 pilgrims killed but several foreign countries have announced the deaths of nationals.
Source: The Citizen
