SIX NIGERIAN PILGRIMS AMONGST 107 KILLED IN FRIDAY'S CRANE COLLAPSE AT MECCA

•Sultan Abubakar

Six Nigerian pilgrims are among the  107 people killed in Friday’s crane collapse at Mecca’s holy site Ka’aba, Saudi Arabia.
Kaduna State Task Force on Hajj spokesman  Saidu Adamu yesterday confirmed the death of a member of the state’s delegation.
National Hajj Commission (NAHCON) confirmed the death of five other Nigerians.

It named the dead Kaduna pilgrim as Alhaji Adamu Shuaibu Kargi from Kubau Local Government Area.
Federal Government officials had on Saturday said no Nigerian died.
Gombe State Amirul-Hajj, Abdullahi Mai-Kano, said four women pilgrims from the state were missing after the incident.
According to him, the four pilgrims were from Akko, Dukku and Nafada local governments areas of the state.

Mai-Kano said the pilgrim was injured in her head, but had been treated and discharged.
He said the four pilgrims were declared missing after a thorough verification and bed checking in the three houses accommodating the state’s pilgrims.

Authorities in Saudi Arabia had earlier on Saturday confirmed that 107 people died.
The spokesperson for the Saudi presidency on the Affairs of the two holy mosques, Ahmad Al-Mansouri, said at “least 107 people were dead and another 238 were injured.
Also yesterday, the Kano State Pilgrims Welfare Board said  4, 478 of the 5, 602 intending pilgrims from the state had  been flown to Saudi Arabia.

Alhaji Nuhu Badamasi, the Public Relations Officer of the board, said in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kano that the intending pilgrims were flown to the holy land through the Malam Aminu Kano International Airport in nine flights by Max Air.
According to him, the airline made its ninth flight with 530 pilgrims yesterday around 7. 30 a.m. with officials of the board.

‘’This brings the total of our intending pilgrims so far airlifted to the Holy land to 4, 478, while the remaining 1, 124 are still on ground waiting for their flights,’’ he said.