It continues to look grim as the figures of the dead continue to rise.

The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) has said that the number of Nigerians that died in the Jamarat Stampede in Mina, Saudi Arabia, has risen to 199. The commissioner, Planning, Research and Library Service of the commission, Dr. Saleh Okenwa, said last night in Makkah that 36 were injured and 121 still missing.

He said Sokoto State lost 79 pilgrims and has 59 missing while Kano State lost 20 pilgrims to top the list of causalities. The commissioner also said that only five Nigerians remain on admission at the hospitals while others had been discharged.

He listed other states affected as Adamawa, Borno, FCT, Gombe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Katsina, Kebbi, Kwara, Nasarawa, Niger, Ogun, Ondo, Plateau, Rivers, Taraba, Yobe and Zamfara who either lost pilgrims or have their pilgrims declared missing.

The number of dead has continued to rise after some of those earlier declared missing were identified among the corpses in the hospitals and the figure is expected to rise when those declared missing may have been identified.

“The numbers of dead from the state pilgrims were 160 comprising 70 male, 84 female, four male officials and two female officials. Thirty-three – being 18 male and 15 female – were injured, while 110 were still missing, comprising 61 male, 48 female and one male official.

“The tour operators recorded 39 deaths with 25 male and 14 female, two were injured and among the five on admission, while 11 comprising eight male and three female were still missing,” he said.