ISLAMABAD: Minister for Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony Sardar Muhammad Yousaf on Tuesday informed the Senate that 99 Pakistani pilgrims were martyred and the 18 others were still missing in the Mina tragedy, as per the data compiled so far.
Briefing the House, he said, out of the total martyred Pakistani Hujjaj, 70 have been identified by the Saudi authorities and buried in the holy land, while martyrdom of 29 others was confirmed by their relatives and eye-witnesses.
Whereas, 18 Pakistani Hujjaj are still missing, and the Ministry of Religious Affairs is making all-out efforts to trace their whereabouts at the earliest, he said.
Among the missing nationals, he said, three were those who went to perform Hajj under the government scheme, eight belonged to the private scheme, while seven were overseas Pakistanis (Aqama holders).
The ministry, Yousaf said, in collaboration with Pakistan Hajj mission in Saudi Arabia and HOPE " a body of Hajj Group Organizers (HGOs) had so far recovered 309 missing Pakistani Hujjaj and re-united them with their families".
At present, he said, two injured were admitted to the hospital in Jeddah, while 45 others had been discharged after treatment.
Narrating the episode, he said, the incident had occurred on September 24 (10th of Zilhajj) at 10 am on the route number 204, when the faithful gathered from across the world were preparing for the Rumi (stoning to devil) - an important ritual of the Hajj.
He said soon after the incident, he said, the staff of Pakistan?s Hajj mission reached the incident site and shifted 23 injured nationals to hospitals for treatment.
Yousaf informed the House that the Ministry staff, Hajj Medical Mission, Pakistan Ambassador to Saudi Arabia and the Director General Hajj remained engaged with Saudi authorities and visited hospitals, mortuary and residential buildings of the pilgrims to get information about martyred, injured and missing Pakistanis.
He said a Task Force was formed that visited room-to-room in all residential buildings hired for Pakistan Hujjaj to collect details of Pakistani Hujjaj.
The minister said he held meetings with Saudi authorities including his counterpart, who assured full cooperation to recover bodies of Pakistani pilgrims as well as missing Hujjaj. The Saudi authorities have appointed Focal Persons to coordinate with Pakistan's staff for the purpose, he added.
He said the Ministry of Religious Affairs had made comprehensive arrangements and extended maximum facilities to Pakistani Hujjaj in Pakistan as well as in Saudi Arabia so that they could perform the religious obligation in a smooth manner.
Terming the Mina stampede "incident," Yousaf said there was no fault on part of the ministry as the Saudi government was the sole responsible for the arrangements made for Hujjaj gathered at the holy land.
The Saudi authorities, he said, had formed a committee to probe the incident and the ministry could not comment on it till completion of the inquiry. "Saudi government does not allow any country to interfere in the Hajj matters," he added.
Under the Hajj policy, the minister said, there was no provision of bringing back the bodies of those pilgrims, who died in Saudi Arabia due to natural cause or incident, to Pakistan rather they were buried in the holy land.
Despite it, he said, the government offered heirs of the martyrs to bring back the bodies, but majority of them desired to burry their dear ones in the holy land except three.
He said the Saudi authorities, under a mechanism, was continuing the process of identification of the bodies and handing them over to their respective countries.
Lawmakers including Shahi Syed, Sitara Ayaz, Saleh Shah, Farhatullah Babar and Usman Kakar expressed reservations over the missing Pakistanis.
Later, Chairman Mian Raza Rabbani referred the matter to the Standing Committee on Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony.
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