35 Bangladeshi Hajj pilgrims die in KSA

Shawdesh Desk:

At least 35 Bangladeshi Hajj pilgrims have died of various causes in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Among the deceased, 28 were males and seven were females. Of them, 28 died in Makkah, four in Madinah, two in Mina, and one in Jeddah, the latest bulletin of the Hajj Management Portal under the Ministry of Religious Affairs said early Saturday.

As many as 85,225 pilgrims from Bangladesh arrived in Saudi Arabia to perform Hajj this year under government and private management.

Muslim pilgrims from all over the world performed Hajj on 15 June.

The first Hajj flight of the year left Dhaka for the KSA on 9 May and the last flight was operated on 12 June.

The return flights began on 20 June and will continue till 22 July.

As many as 3,920 pilgrims have returned home so far, the bulletin added.

Hajj death toll tops 1,100

A senior Saudi official defended the Gulf kingdom’s management of the Hajj pilgrimage on Friday after various countries reported more than 1,100 deaths, many attributed to high heat.

“The state did not fail, but there was a misjudgement on the part of people who did not appreciate the risks,” the official told AFP in the government’s first comments on the deaths.

An AFP tally on Friday, compiling official statements and reports from diplomats involved in the response, put the toll at 1,126, more than half of them from Egypt.

The Hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam, and all Muslims with the means must complete it at least once before they die.