NAIROBI, Kenya, Sep 25 – Three Kenyans were on Friday confirmed dead in the Mecca stampede that killed more than 700 Pilgrims attending this year’s Hajj in Saudi Arabia.
A statement from the Foreign Affairs Ministry indicated that 4,950 Kenyans had travelled to attend the annual event considered one of the largest, and most important in the Muslim calendar.
“We have received information from the Kenyan Mission in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia of three Kenyans confirmed dead, while one is seriously injured and in hospital,” the statement issued by Principal Secretary Karanja Kibicho stated. He said the bereaved families had been notified.
The stampede occurred on a street in Mina, a large valley where about two million Muslims are performing the annual Hajji pilgrim.
The stampede occurred two weeks after a crane collapsed, killing more than 100 people at another major Islamic holy site, the Grand Mosque in Mecca.
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