JEDDAH/CAIRO, 14 January 2006 — Maj. Gen. Mansour Al-Turki, spokesman of the Interior Ministry, said yesterday that only 10 Egyptians were killed in Thursday’s Mina stampede, denying previous reports that Egyptian casualties had crossed 100.
Maj. Gen. Majed Ibrahim, Egypt’s deputy interior minister and a member of the official Haj delegation, however, said the number of Egyptian casualties could rise as many were suffering from deep injuries.
Ibrahim said many Egyptians died because the stampede occurred at a time when they were sent to the Jamrat in groups to perform the stoning ritual. He said the victims included Egyptian expatriates working in the Kingdom.
The Egyptian official said the pilgrims from his country were following the instructions of Saudi authorities on the timing of the stoning ritual.
“We have been contacting families of the dead to bury them,” he told Arab News.
While Egyptian officials keep denying that 100 pilgrims fell dead in the accident, hundreds of families and relatives of Egyptian pilgrims went to the Saudi Embassy in Cairo to know whether their loved ones were there among the victims.
Pilgrims’ relatives tried to contact some Egyptian officials but most of them were unavailable.
In Egypt, public phone cabins witnessed unprecedented crowds as many went to make international calls to know the latest and make sure that their relatives are safe and sound in Makkah.
Ahmed Mahmoud Yahya told Arab News that both of his parents, Mahmoud and Fatma, were doing Haj and he had called them twice just the night before. He also says that they are all right adding that he is praying to have them back safely.
Engineer Ihab Hashish said that his father went to do the pilgrimage and he got worried about him when he heard the news.
The TV reports were confusing as no official could give the right death toll, Hashish said, nervously adding that in spite of having “good relations with high officials” he knew nothing about his father’s condition, especially since his cell phone went offline for more than eight hours. Hashish said that it is obvious that the Egyptian officials do not have any details.
On the other hand, the Egyptian media ignored discussing the real death toll, maintaining that most of the Egyptian pilgrims had already finished their rituals some time before the accident. Egyptian media reports also stated that the wounded were those who left the Jamrat area little bit late.
