The death toll of Nigeria pilgrims taking part in this year’s Hajj exercise in Saudi Arabia has risen to 22 following the death of two more pilgrims from Bauchi State.
Addressing newsmen in Makkah on Monday, Executive Secretary of Bauchi State Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board, Alhaji Isiyaku Suleman, disclosed that the dead, a man and a woman, died as a result of malaria and asthma attack.
Suleman stated the man died in Medina, while the woman died in Makkah.
He added that the deceased were from Ningi and Toro Local Government Areas of the state respectively.
He, however, stated that the respective families of the deceased have
been informed of the unfortunate death of the pilgrims.
The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) had on Monday declared that so far 20 Nigerian pilgrims have died in Saudi Arabia since the beginning of the 2015 Hajj exercise.
NAHCON chairman, Alhaji Abdullahi Mukhtar, who disclosed this at a pre-Arafat stakeholders meeting at Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, informed that out of the number, 14 died due to cardiac arrest and other ailments.