Over 1,000 pilgrims die during Hajj; 19 are from Kurdistan Region
Stuni stated that the General Directorate of Hajj and Umrah of the Kurdistan Region will facilitate the recovery of the pilgrims' bodies and supervise their burial ceremonies at the "Jannat al-Baqi" cemetery in Medina.
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The total number of pilgrims who died during this year's Hajj has reached 1,081, with 61 percent being Egyptians. Additionally, 58 percent of the deceased pilgrims had traveled to Saudi Arabia without proper visas.
An unnamed Arab diplomat told AFP that 58 more Egyptian pilgrims had died, bringing the total number of deaths to 1,081. Among the deceased, 658 were Egyptians, with 630 of them having entered Saudi Arabia for Hajj without proper Hajj visas.
Official records indicate that, in addition to the 658 Egyptian pilgrims, the deceased included 183 Indonesians, 68 Indians, 60 Jordanians, 35 Tunisians, 35 Pakistanis, 14 Malaysians, 13 from the Kurdistan Region, 11 Iranians, three Senegalese, and one Sudanese. However, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) reported the deaths of 19 pilgrims from the Kurdistan Region.
Karwan Stuni, spokesperson for the KRG General Directorate of Hajj and Umrah, told Kurdistan 24 on Thursday, “19 Kurdistan Region’s pilgrims died in Saudi Arabia during this year's Hajj season. Eighteen of them had one-year Saudi visas, and only one had officially traveled to Mecca and Medina through the Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs.”
Stuni stated that the General Directorate of Hajj and Umrah of the Kurdistan Region will facilitate the recovery of the pilgrims' bodies and supervise their burial ceremonies at the "Jannat al-Baqi" cemetery in Medina.
| Number | Full Name | Place of Residence |
| 1 | Hajjia Razia | Erbil |
| 2 | Hemin Qader | Erbil |
| 3 | Khawla Osman Khelef | Binasilawa - Erbil |
| 4 | Beyan Saadi Ali | Erbil |
| 5 | Ronak Maruf Qader | Zerarati Area - Erbil |
| 6 | Khayyar Ghafour Gaznayi | Soran - Erbil |
| 7 | Nazir Tahir | Erbil |
| 8 | Hama Hassan Abdullah | - |
| 9 | Ahmed Balaki | - |
| 10 | Zinat Rashid Qader | Sulaimani |
| 11 | Safia Hassan | - |
| 12 | Suad Hama Abdulrahman | Rania - Raparin I.A. |
| 13 | Hamid Rahim Mokhtar | Garmian I.A. |
| 14 | Abduljabbar Abdullah | - |
| 15 | Mohammed Fares | Bardarash District - Duhok |
| 16 | Khorshid Farakh Amin | - |
| 17 | Lanjawaz Osman Saadi | Soran I.A. |
| 18 | Assia Ali | Bardarash District - Duhok |
| 19 | Ahmed Ghafour Mohammed | Halabja |
"We are constantly in contact with the Iraqi Embassy in Saudi Arabia to locate the 15 missing pilgrims," he said, noting that most of the missing pilgrims had traveled to Saudi Arabia unofficially, not through the Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs.
“The first convoy of pilgrims will leave Mecca on June 22, 2024,” Stuni added. "The first convoy of pilgrims will arrive in the Kurdistan Region on June 24, 2024, via both Erbil and Sulaimani international airports."
This year, 4,685 pilgrims from the Kurdistan Region traveled to Saudi Arabia through the Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs of the KRG. The total number of Iraqi pilgrims, including those from the Kurdistan Region, reached 33,690.
