6 BD nationals found among Saudi stampede 717 victims

Six Bangladeshi nationals were found among the 717 pilgrims who died during a hajj ritual on the outskirts of the holy city of Makkah in Saudi Arabia on Thursday. According to reports reaching the UNB news desk, three of the victims hailed from Sonagazi upazila of Feni district while one from Sumanganj, Dinajpur and Jamalpur each. UNB Feni correspondent reports: Three people –Tahera Begum, 65, wife of late Nurul Haque of Sulakhali village in Sonagzi upazila , her younger brother Nur Nabi Mintu, 60, son of late Shamsul Huda of Nanda village in the upazila, and Nur Jahan, 45, wife of Belayet Hossain of the Sulkhali village — were found among the 717 pilgrims. The two other people — Aminul Haque, 57, son of late Mir Ahmed of Sujapur in Sonagazi upazila and Bibi Fatema, 60, wife of late Sheikh Ejharul Haque of Charganesh village in the same upazila — went into missing in the incident, claimed family members. UNB Dinajpur correspondent adds: Kurmat Ali, 70, of Chhatoil village in Bochagangj upazila was killed in the hajj stampede, said victim’s son Kamal Hossain. He said muallem of a hajj team phoned him around 11pm on Thursday when he informed him about the death of his father in the stampede in Mina. Kamal also said his mother Asma Khatun also went to perform hajj along with his father this year. She, however, remained unhurt. The other victim was identified as Julia Begum, 45, wife of Badrul Huda Mukul, hailing from Sumanganj district. Afia Chowdhury, sister of Julia, was also injured in the incident, said Julia’s husband Badrul Huda. Earlier, a Bangladeshi woman, Feroza Khanam, 60, wife of Khandaker Sirajul Islam of Hatchandra in Jamalpur town, was found among the dead. The victim’s son, Sayem, told UNB that his elder brother Shamim, who went to Saudi Arabia with his mother, informed him about their mother’s death around 4pm over mobile phone. A horrific stampede killed at least 717 pilgrims and injured hundreds more on the outskirts of the holy city of Makkah in Saudi Arabia on Thursday, the deadliest tragedy to strike the annual hajj pilgrimage in more than two decades. It was the second major disaster during this year’s hajj season, raising questions about the adequacy of measures put in place by Saudi authorities to ensure the safety of the roughly 2 million Muslims taking part in the pilgrimage. A crane collapse in Makkah nearly two weeks earlier left 111 people dead. –UNB