Iranians wait for pilgrims returning from performing Hajj in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, at the Imam Khomeini International Airport in Tehran, Iran yesterday. According to reports of the stampede, 239 Iranians lost their lives. Photo EPA The number of Nigerians who died in last Thursday's stampede at the Jamarat (symbolic stoning of the devil) in Mina, Saudi Arabia, has risen to 64 with 71 others sustaining injuries while 244 are still missing.

Spokesman of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) Mallam Uba Mana, told newsmen yesterday in Makkah that the commission was doing all within its powers to locate the whereabouts of those still missing.

"We have 64 Nigerians dead from the stampede, 71 injured and 244 still missing. Out of those that died, 48 are from the state Pilgrims Welfare Boards and 12 from tour operators. The 226 missing are from state pilgrims boards and 18 from tour operators.

"We have set up various committees to track those missing and we are not limiting the search to Makkah, Mina or Madinah but the whole of Saudi Arabia as helicopters were used to airlift victims to the nearest hospitals with several hospitals used," Mana said.

He said the missing pilgrims are from Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Ekiti, FCT, Gombe, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi and Kwara States. Others are from Nasarawa, Niger, Ondo, Plateau, Rivers, Sokoto, Taraba, Yobe and Zamfara.

While noting that some of the dead pilgrims had been buried in Makkah, he added that if the family of any of the victims intended to have the body of their loved ones sent back to Nigeria, it would be at the expense of the family. He said: "The commission will do all that is humanly possible to assist families of the dead get befitting burials for their loved ones but if they intend to have the body sent home, I don't think the Saudi authorities will pick the bills." He however said the commission would not rush to declare the missing pilgrims dead as several committees had been constituted to search for them by combing the whole of Saudi Arabia.