The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) has confirmed that three Nigerian pilgrims have died in Saudi Arabia, just as it said the dead were among 76,000 pilgrims which left the shores of Nigeria for Saudi Arabia for the 2016 Hajj exercise.
The Commission in a statement through head of the medical team, Dr. Ibrahim Kana, disclosed that two of the pilgrims died in Madinah and one in Makkah.
Speaking at a meeting of stakeholders during a pre Arafat meeting held at Makkah, Kana said one of the affected pilgrims died in his sleep, as his team is still working to know the circumstances surrounding the death of the two others.
Kana, however, disclosed that medical personnel had been distributed to all Nigerian camps to ensure prompt response to the medical needs of Nigerians.
He noted that NAHCON had procured three new ambulances and sufficient drugs to take care of Nigerian pilgrims during the Arafat period, adding that pilgrims should not wander about on sunny afternoon because of heat stroke in Makkah and Madinah.
Over three million pilgrims will perform this year’s Hajj which starts with movement to MunaSaturday, Arafat and Muzdalifa on Sunday, September 11 and throwing stones at the devil (Jamrah) on Monday, September 12.
The 2016 Hajj has been hit with some controversies including a report by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) that a Nigerian female travelling to Medinah, Saudi Arabia, in order to observe the pilgrimage tested positive to ingestion of hard drugs on Friday, September 2, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
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