JEDDAH: The Passport Department is still in the process of identifying the dead in the Mina stampede.

This is according to Col. Khaled Al-Saikhan, assistant director for technical affairs, who said that six teams are still checking identities at hospitals in Jeddah, Makkah and Taif. Seven people were identified on Sunday, he said.

He said the department has been checking the fingerprints of the pilgrims, which are then matched with a database held by the Ministry of Interior. The ministry has complete details of all the people who entered the country over the past few years, he was quoted as saying by a local publication recently.

He said the entire process is done quickly with the use of two handheld devices that can read the biometric details of a person. Once a person dies, retina scans cannot be taken, unlike fingerprints, which can be read up to three days after a person passes away.

“Field teams in coordination with the local health department in the region are working around the clock to identify the dead,” he said.