Baku, Azerbaijan, Oct. 9
By Fatih Karimov - Trend: Sixty-seven Iranians are still missing after the Mina incident during the Hajj rites in Saudi Arabia on Sept. 24.
Iran's Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization chief Saeed Ohadi said bodies of two pilgrims have been identified and the number of missing pilgrims has decreased to 67, Iran's IRNA news agency reported Oct. 9.
Considering that the Mina disaster took place two weeks ago, the identification of Iranian pilgrims, who were missed during the incident, will take time, he noted.
The process for identifying bodies of Iranian pilgrims started on Thursday and it is hoped that bodies to 87 pilgrims to be transferred to Iran today (October 9), he said, adding that a total of 395 bodies have been so far transferred to the country.
On Sept. 24, a stampede occurred in the Mina valley, where Muslims were performing the Hajj rites. According to the latest reports, 465 Iranian pilgrims were among those who lost their lives in the Mina stampede.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Oct. 5 that Iran continues diplomatic talks on different levels regarding causes of the Mina tragedy.
Edited by CN