Islamabad, Nov. 5 (ANI): As many as 93 Pakistani pilgrims have died while performing the Hajj in Saudi Arabia this year, according to Syed Abu Ahmed Aqif, director general (Hajj) in the Consulate General of Pakistan in Jeddah.
"Approximately, 179,210 Pakistanis performed Hajj. Saudi government had allocated same number of quota for Pakistan," the Daily Times quoted Aqif, as saying.
Aqif said the burial of 87 pilgrims out of 93 have already been performed in Makkah and Madina.
According to Saudi law and an agreement between the two countries, pilgrims who pass away in Saudi Arabia could not be transported to Pakistan and have to be buried in the kingdom.
The Pakistani government has deployed a medical mission in Saudi Arabia comprising 640 medical staff to look after pilgrims.
Earlier, Counsel General of Pakistan in Saudi Arabia Abdul Salik Khan had said that more than 179,000 Pakistanis travelled to Saudi Arabia to perform Hajj, of which more than 50 percent were aged between 50 to 60-plus years.
Khan said there were problems surfacing primarily because of the "illiteracy of most of the pilgrims and age factor". (ANI)
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