NEWS
Families Search For Missing Pilgrims As Hajj Death Toll Surpasses 900
Friends and family members continued their frantic search for missing Hajj pilgrims on Wednesday as the death toll from the annual pilgrimage surged past 900.
The rituals, conducted in searing heat, saw temperatures in Mecca, Islam’s holiest city, soar to 51.8 degrees Celsius (125 degrees Fahrenheit) on Monday.
Relatives have been combing hospitals and posting pleas online, fearing the worst as about 1.8 million people, many elderly and infirm, participated in the predominantly outdoor pilgrimage, held this year during the scorching Saudi summer.
An Arab diplomat reported that deaths among Egyptians alone had risen to “at least 600,” up from more than 300 the previous day, largely due to the extreme heat. This figure brought the total reported deaths to 922, according to an AFP tally of figures released by various countries.
One of the missing pilgrims is Mabrouka bint Salem Shushana from Tunisia, in her early 70s, who has been unaccounted for since the pilgrimage’s climax on Saturday at Mount Arafat. Her husband, Mohammed, told AFP that due to her unregistered status and lack of an official Hajj permit, she was unable to access air-conditioned facilities.
“She’s an old lady. She was tired. She was feeling so hot, and she had no place to sleep,” he said. “I looked for her in all the hospitals. Until now I don’t have a clue.”
Social media platforms like Facebook have been inundated with pictures of the missing and requests for information. Among those searching for news is the family of Ghada Mahmoud Ahmed Dawood, an Egyptian pilgrim unaccounted for since Saturday. A family friend in Saudi Arabia, speaking anonymously to avoid angering the authorities, said, “The good news is that until now we did not find her on the list of the dead people, which gives us hope she is still alive.”
The Hajj, one of the five pillars of Islam, is an obligation for all Muslims with the means to complete it at least once. The timing is determined by the Islamic lunar calendar, causing the pilgrimage to shift forward each year in the Gregorian calendar. For the past several years, the rituals have taken place during the sweltering Saudi summer. A recent Saudi study noted that temperatures in the area are rising by 0.4 degrees Celsius (0.72 degrees Fahrenheit) each decade.
Fatalities have been confirmed by multiple countries including Jordan, Indonesia, Iran, Senegal, Tunisia, and Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region. However, many authorities have not specified the causes of death.
A second Arab diplomat reported that Jordanian officials were searching for 20 missing pilgrims, although 80 others initially reported missing were located in hospitals. An Asian diplomat stated there were “around 68 dead” from India, with more missing. “Some died from natural causes and many were old-age pilgrims. Others, we assume, succumbed to the weather conditions,” he said.
Saudi Arabia has not provided information on fatalities but reported over 2,700 cases of “heat exhaustion” on Sunday alone. Last year, more than 200 pilgrims were reported dead, most of them from Indonesia.
Many pilgrims attempt to perform the Hajj through unofficial channels due to the high cost of official permits. This has become easier since 2019 with the introduction of a general tourism visa. “For these tourists, it’s like being on the migrant route without any idea of what to expect,” explained Umer Karim, an expert on Saudi politics at the University of Birmingham.
The Arab diplomat noted that many of the deceased Egyptians were unregistered. Even those with official permits are not immune, such as 70-year-old Houria Ahmad Abdallah Sharif from Egypt, who has been missing since Saturday after visiting a public bathroom at Mount Arafat.
“We’ve searched for her from door to door and we have not found her until now,” said a friend. “We know many who are still searching for their family members and relatives and they are not finding them, or if they are finding them, they are finding them dead.”
Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar has criticized the federal government’s plan to secure an additional N1.7 trillion loan through Eurobonds to cover a shortfall in the 2024 budget, describing the borrowing as unsustainable and harmful to Nigeria’s economy.
In a statement shared on Thursday via his X (formerly Twitter) handle, Atiku accused the Bola Tinubu-led administration of burdening Nigerians with debt while failing to provide clear answers about the country’s fiscal challenges.
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He also faulted the National Assembly for enabling what he called a “voracious appetite” for loans.
The former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate expressed alarm over a recent World Bank report ranking Nigeria as the third most indebted country to the International Development Association (IDA), calling the development troubling.
“The recent report released by the World Bank, showing Nigeria as the third most indebted country to the International Development Association (IDA), is very concerning,” Atiku stated.
He raised further concerns about the government’s decision to benchmark the proposed loan at an exchange rate of 1 USD to N800, despite the Central Bank of Nigeria’s official rate being over N1,600.
“What makes this particular loan proposal even more concerning is that it is benchmarked at the exchange rate of 1 USD to N800, whereas the current exchange rate from the Central Bank of Nigeria stands at over N1,600 to 1 USD,” he said.
Atiku questioned the need for additional borrowing, given the government’s earlier claims of record-high revenue collection.
“In July this year, Tinubu boasted that the FIRS and Customs under his watch had collected all-time high revenues to finance the budget. Why are they still borrowing?” he said
He accused the government of a lack of transparency, describing the borrowing spree as detrimental to Nigerians already struggling under economic hardship.
“There is something that they are not telling Nigerians, even as they are being crushed by a combination of their failed trial-and-error policies and loan rackets.”
Atiku also referenced a report by BudgIT, a budget monitoring group, which criticized the 2024 budget for its inefficiencies.
He alleged that corruption, rather than infrastructure or development needs, was driving the government’s borrowing decisions.
“These loans are powered by corruption and not for infrastructure and development needs. This voracious appetite for humongous loans is deeply concerning,” he said.
Reflecting on Nigeria’s financial history, Atiku lamented the return to significant foreign indebtedness just years after former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration cleared the country’s debt.
“It is agonizing to see that just a few years after the Obasanjo administration took us out of foreign indebtedness, we are today back at the top spot in the same conundrum,” he stated.
He called for a more cautious approach to borrowing, urging the government to prioritize fiscal responsibility and transparency to avoid worsening Nigeria’s economic challenges.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has taken a historic step, issuing arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
The charges include crimes against humanity and war crimes allegedly committed during Israel’s recent assault on Gaza.
In a detailed statement, the ICC accused the Israeli leaders of “intentionally and knowingly depriving the civilian population in Gaza of objects indispensable to their survival, including food, water, and medicine and medical supplies, as well as fuel and electricity.”
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The ICC’s move marks a significant escalation in international scrutiny of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Netanyahu and Gallant are alleged to have orchestrated policies that caused severe harm to the civilian population in Gaza, leading to widespread condemnation from human rights organizations.
Alongside the charges against Israeli officials, the ICC also issued an arrest warrant for Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif. Deif has long been a central figure in Hamas’s military operations. Israel’s military claims to have killed him in a July airstrike, although this has not been independently verified.
The warrants highlight growing calls for accountability amid the ongoing conflict in the region. The ICC’s actions are likely to provoke heated debate and may complicate diplomatic efforts aimed at resolving the crisis.
With the warrants issued, global attention now turns to how the international community will respond and whether any practical steps will be taken to enforce them.
Governor Monday Okpebholo of Edo State has inaugurated a 12-member committee tasked with recovering government vehicles reportedly in private hands.
The committee, led by Kelly Okungbowa, has been given a two-week mandate to retrieve the vehicles and ensure their return to the state government.
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Speaking during the inauguration ceremony in Benin City, Governor Okpebholo emphasized the importance of accountability in the management of public resources.
He urged the committee to carry out its assignment thoroughly and within the bounds of the law.
In his response, Okungbowa expressed gratitude to the governor for entrusting the team with the assignment, vowing to deliver results within the stipulated timeframe.
“A lot of vehicles used by the past administration are missing, as those in custody of the vehicles have refused to return them,” Okungbowa said.
“The governor deemed it fit to inaugurate us today with a mandate to recover all government vehicles in private hands.”
The committee, which includes representatives from Edo’s three senatorial districts, is set to investigate and recover the vehicles based on credible intelligence already at their disposal.
“We already have vital information regarding some persons still holding government vehicles,” Okungbowa stated. “We will do the job according to the law, and both the government and the people will be satisfied with the outcome.”
He also called on members of the public to assist the committee by providing information about any government vehicles that may still be in private possession.
“We want to appeal to members of the public who might be aware of anyone still keeping government vehicles in their houses to please inform us to enable the committee to recover such for the Edo State Government,” Okungbowa said.
The committee’s vice chairman, Rt. Hon. Victor Edoror, a former Speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly, will work alongside other members to ensure the success of the initiative. The public can reach the committee at 08110165121.
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