Death toll of Indians in Haj stampede rises to 45

The number of Indians killed in the Haj stampede rose to 45 today as authorities identified 10 more bodies with 50 Indian pilgrims being treated for injuries in the worst tragedy in 25 years to hit the pilgrimage.
"The death toll of Indians killed in Haj stampede is now 45. We have 50 Indian pilgrims in various hospitals in Saudi Arabia," External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted.
Earlier, 13 more bodies were identified among the dead yesterday raising the death toll to 35.
Swaraj had yesterday put the death toll in the Haj stampede in Mina at 1090, much higher than the figure of 769 given by Saudi authorities.

"Saudi authorities have released photos of 1090 pilgrims who have died in Haj stampede," Swaraj had tweeted.
The number of injured in the tragedy stands at 934.

King Salman has ordered the formation of a committee to probe the deadly incident during the five-day pilgrimage in which around two million people from over 180 countries took part. From India, 1.5 lakh pilgrims performed Haj.
Haj is one of the five pillars of Islam that should be performed at least once in a lifetime by every Muslim who is financially and physically capable.
The stampede broke out after two massive lines of pilgrims converged on each other from different directions at an intersection close to the five-storey Jamarat Bridge in Mina for symbolic stoning of the devil.

It was the second major accident this year for pilgrims, after a construction crane collapsed on September 11 at Mecca's Grand Mosque, killing over 100 people, including 11 Indians.