Several Nigerians were among the 717 persons that died on Thursday in Mina, Saudi Arabia during a stampede, the Vanguard newspaper is reporting.
A Vanguard photographer, Lamidi Bamidele, was at the scene of the stampede.
Bamidele, who escaped death by the whiskers, confirmed that officials of the Hajj were not around the area when the incident occurred.
He said: “I was at the centre of the stampede.
“Saudi police and traffic officials who used to control movement were not available.
“In fact it was after the stampede that they arrived.
“I managed to escape unhurt but not without losing my pair of shoes.”
Vanguard said its correspondent at the scene confirmed that several Nigerian pilgrims died in the stampede, while officials of the Nigerian delegation are already taking stock of Nigerians and will soon come out with the number and identities of pilgrims involved.
An eyewitness told Vanguard on the telephone: “The stampede started from tents erected close to Jamrah.
“Pilgrims were not supposed to pass through the tents but they did since there were no officials to stop them and the pandemonium led to a massive stampede at the Jamrah exit points.”
He added that Saudi officials who are saddled with the responsibility of controlling the movement of persons were not around the area at the time of the incident.
According to him, the exit points to the Jamrah are four.
There was an ambulance parked close to one of the entries and again another entry had been taken over by disabled persons, but since there were no security officials to direct movement, people became unruly when trying to find a way out, causing the stampede.
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