JEDDAH, 15 January 2006 — Grieving family members were still identifying victims of Thursday’s Mina stampede that killed at least 363 people from 26 countries, mostly Indians, Pakistanis, Saudis, Bangladeshis, Egyptians, Turks and Yemenis.

Nationals from South Asia appeared to have been worst hit in the stampede at the entrance to the Jamrat Bridge in Mina, east of Makkah, where more than half a million pilgrims had massed.

Pakistan said it lost 44 pilgrims on the last day of the stoning of the devil ritual while neighboring India said at least 48 of its citizens were killed.

Turkey said Friday that 12 of its pilgrims died in the stampede, the worst since July 1990 when 1,426 pilgrims were trampled or asphyxiated to death in a stampede in a tunnel in Mina.

Meanwhile, thousands of pilgrims have already left Makkah for their destinations after completing the Haj rituals.

The Haj Terminal at King Abdul Aziz International Airport swung into action once again after it was reopened at 3 p.m. on Friday for return Haj flights. “All our return flights in the second phase are on schedule,” a PIA executive said. “We’re taking back all the pilgrims we brought for performing the annual pilgrimage,” he added.

Similar sentiments were expressed by Garuda Indonesia, Air-India, and other airlines. Like the Haj Terminal, the North Terminal also started getting crowded with pilgrims coming individually or through tour operators eager to return home after the successful Haj.

Pilgrims and family members continued to flock yesterday to the morgue at Al-Muaisem hospital to search for their missing loved ones among the pictures of the dead posted on a wall or shown on a television screen.

“Pilgrims are still coming in large numbers to search for their missing relatives or to take their bodies,” said the deputy director of the morgue. The stampede was inevitable due to the rush of pilgrims anxious to leave Mina at the same time after the stoning rite on the fifth day of Haj, Maj. Gen. Mansour Al-Turki, spokesman of the Interior Ministry, told a press conference.

He said this was made worse by the conduct of many disorderly pilgrims carrying luggage.

“The real reasons for the stampede can be linked to the dynamics of the masses involved in the Haj,” he said.

Nearly 70 percent of the 2.5 million pilgrims massed in Mina before the stampede wanted to leave after the stoning ritual, he said, adding that almost 600,000 alone had gathered at the entrance of the bridge.

Turki said the present Jamrat Bridge would be torn down next week to pave the way for a major renovation that will increase its capacity to more than five million pilgrims.

Turki suggested that families of the dead might be compensated, as was the case with the 76 killed in the collapse of an old hotel building near the Grand Mosque in Makkah on Jan. 5. “This compensation is in no way an indication of our responsibility for what happened, it is more a form of commiseration for the pilgrims,” he said.

The injured pilgrims who still remain at Makkah hospitals number 13 as of yesterday afternoon. “None of the cases remaining at the hospitals are worrying. Most of them suffered fractures so they need to stay for a few days before they can move,” said Khaled Mirghalani, spokesman for the Ministry of Health.

As for those who died in the stampede, almost all of the Saudis had been handed to their relatives for burial.

“There are procedures for verifying the identity of the deceased and the identity of the person who is claiming to be a relative before handing them the body and issuing them a death certificate for burial,” Mirghalani told Arab News.

He emphasized that the relative or the person claiming to have the right to take the body must provide the authorities with official identification documents of themselves and an original or copy of an official ID of the deceased so that officials can compare the pictures, fingerprints and blood type information they have on the file of the person.

“It is not simply anyone walking in and saying I know this person. From experience, we expect that within the next two days we would be able to identify all the bodies because this is when relatives and friends and Haj missions have a clear idea of their people who hadn’t contacted them and start to make inquiries,” he said.

The problem as he said is with those who did not have permits or entered illegally, but usually their relatives or friends would know that they were performing Haj and would come over to check, that is why the number of local casualties increased.

The United States, meanwhile, offered its condolences to the families of pilgrims killed in the stampede.

“I would just like to extend our condolences on behalf of the US and on behalf of the president (George W. Bush) and Mrs. (Laura) Bush to the families of those who lost loved ones while taking part in the annual pilgrimage,” said White House spokesman Scott McClellan. “We extend our deepest sympathies to those families.”

As Hajis were returning to their home countries, a visit to the North Terminal yesterday showed it was overflowing with pilgrims. Many pilgrims with their luggage were making desperate bids to enter the airport’s gates. Security men were posted outside to check the air tickets and passports of pilgrims.

“We’re additionally checking whether the pilgrims coming here are not those meant for the Haj Terminal,” a security official told Arab News. “In the past we faced such problems — Haj Terminal pilgrims somehow managed to come to this (North) terminal and those meant to fly out from here were seen at the Haj Terminal,” he added.

However, this time no such confusion is likely to occur as they are first checked at the checkpoint on the way to the airport. “And they are doubly checked here,” he added.

Pakistanis were prominent in the crowd at the airport. They were all waiting to enter the airport to catch their flight back home. There were also pilgrims who were not scheduled to fly on the day. “I’m part of a group, but I lost my group in Makkah. I was advised to reach the airport and fly out either individually or with the group,” said Mohammad Khan, 40, from Karachi. He subsequently found three other pilgrims from his group. “We’re lucky, because we have our passports and tickets with us,” he said.

Abdul Raza, a middle-aged Pakistani, said he was at the airport from 10 a.m., but came to know that his Karachi flight was only at 10 p.m. The terminal had pilgrims from different nationalities who were in groups. Some of the regular travelers said they found difficulty in entering the airport.

“With the crowd of pilgrims swelling day by day, I’ll advise travelers to reach the airport at least five hours before departure,” Abdullah Al-Marie, a UAE national traveling to Bahrain by Gulf Air, said.