Work on India's haj fire death list begins

Minister of State for Home Maqbool Dar and senior officials of the external affairs ministry have begun identifying bodies of Indian haj pilgrims killed in the devastating fire on Tuesday in Mina, about 10 kilometres from Mecca.

Dar, who had a near brush with the fire in which 343 people are believed killed, is busy preparing a list of Indians killed in the blaze.

The minister, on Thursday, April 17, also briefed senior leaders of the government, including External Affairs Minister I K Gujral about steps being taken by the Indian goodwill haj delegation and other officials to provide relief to the pilgrims.

The affected area is now under the control of the Saudi authorities. The exact number of Indians killed in the fire is not known. However, a clear picture should emerge in a day or two.

Pilgrims, vivid with memories of the trauma, are expected home on Sunday, April 20.

A three-member team from the external affairs ministry -- K Raghunath, secretary (east); Talmiz Ahmed, external affairs ministry spokesperson and Azhar Khan, officer on special duty in the ministry -- will leave New Delhi on Thursday night for Saudi Arabia to help in the relief operations.

Raghunath said the government is considering providing financial relief to the next of kin of those who perished in the blaze and to those who suffered permanent disabilities.

He indicated that the relief could be given from the Prime Minister's Relief Fund in keeping with the norms as applicable during disasters in India.

Giving a detailed account of the report received by the government from the Indian mission in Jeddah, Raghunath said the fire broke out on Tuesday when a gas cylinder being used by a Pakistani pilgrim for cooking burst.

Because of a high velocity wind, the blaze spread fast, engulfing a number of camps.

The Indian pilgrims, he said, were occupying 11 camps. Of the 80,976 Indian pilgrims, 56,000 had been sponsored by the government. The rest were on pilgrimage through private tour operators.

Asked how many Indian pilgrims had died in the fire, Raghunath said ''There is no way one can make out how many Indians have died... All these toll figures have no basis whatsoever.''

He said it would take some time before the identity of each individual who perished in the fire could be established.

Most bodies have been charred beyond recognition and shifted to a mortuary. The identity cards of the pilgrims have also been destroyed in the blaze.

A Dubai report said senior Saudi officials have stressed that the fire which killed at least 343 pilgrims and injured another 1,300 people was an accident and not a deliberate act.

"According to the first reports, we are talking about an accident as opposed to a criminal act," media reports quoted the Governor of Mecca, Prince Majid bin Abdulaziz, as saying.

Saudi Arabia's ambassador in London Ghazi al Gosaibi also said in a statement that investigations showed that the fire was an accident.

"We are faced with a human tragedy which has no political implications," he said.

"The fire at Mina and the ensuing loss of life and the injuries is a tragedy for all Muslims," he was quoted as saying.

Late on Wednesday night, the Saudi authorities revised upwards to 343 the toll in the fire which destroyed some 70,000 tents in an encampment as two million Muslim pilgrims gathered in the kingdom for this year's haj.

Reports from Mecca quoted officials as saying that around 150 of those killed were from India. The other casualties are from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Thailand, they said.

Indian ambassador to Saudi Arabia Mohammed Hamid Ansari, who said earlier that at least 100 Indians had died, revealed on Thursday morning that it was impossible at this stage to arrive at a more exact figure.

"Nobody is really in a position to put an exact figure on the number of Indians killed," he said.

Saudi authorities are trying to identify victims, but the task has been rendered difficult by the fact that most of the bodies are charred beyond recognition and have no means of identification on them.

In addition, all pilgrims had to hand over their passports on arrival in Mecca.

Regional news agencies quoted Saudi Interior Minister Prince Naif bin Abdulaziz as saying that some of the victims had been "positively identified".

Prince Naif, who visited some of the injured in hospitals, spoke of the difficulties in identifying the victims. He said efforts in this regard would continue in co-operation with the missions of various countries.

Indian officials said this process could take at least a few more days, pending the completion of the pilgrimage itself.

Ansari said some Indians who had reported their relatives or friends missing after the fire had found them later.

Once the pilgrimage was over, he said, the authorities would be in a position to compile a list of missing persons and collate information from various sources to identify the victims.

Meanwhile, nearly two million pilgrims from around the world, who prayed at Mount Arafat on Wednesday in the climax of the haj, started arriving back in Mina on Thursday morning.

The pilgrims, who spent the night in prayers at Mozdalifa, will stay in Mina before they leave for home.

Saudi authorities have been working round the clock since Tuesday to set up new tents for the pilgrims and provide them with essential services.

An Indian official said the mission is trying its best to ensure possible medical aid for the injured in hospitals. "Right now they are our primary concern," he said.

The Jeddah-based Arab News daily quoted doctors as saying that the toll might rise. They also said many of those in hospital are in a serious condition with second and third degree burns.

"Some of those injured have very remote chances of survival," one doctor said.

Many of those in the hospitals are being treated from suffocation and injuries sustained in stampedes after the fire broke out.

"Many victims of suffocation have been sent to Jeddah as they are not in a position to continue with the pilgrimage," he said. Prince Naif said those among the injured who could complete the pilgrimage would be taken to Mount Arafat.