FORMER IRANIAN AMBASSADOR MISSING AFTER STAMPEDE IN SAUDI

Tehran, 13 Dzulhijjah 1436/27 September 2015 (MINA) – Iran’s state TV says Ghazanfar Roknabadi, a former ambassador to Lebanon, is among those missing after at least 759 pilgrims died in a stampede during the hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.

The Saturday broadcast said two Iranian state TV reporters and a prominent political analyst are also missing, Nahar Net quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

At least 134 Iranian pilgrims died and 85 were injured in the Thursday incident, while 354 Iranian pilgrims remain missing, according to the report.

Iran has strongly criticized archrival Saudi Arabia over the disaster, blaming the Saudi government for “incompetence” and “mismanagement” of the annual hajj.

The UK-based Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC) says Saudi Arabia is obviously not “capable” of managing the annual Hajj pilgrimage, Press TV reports.

The Saudis deny the “responsibility that they actually hold,” and even blame the victims for the tragedy, he noted.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan came to Saudi Arabia’s defence on Friday as blame shifted towards the Saudi authorities after a stampede at the hajj pilgrimage killed at least 717 people.

The Turkish leader said that it would be wrong to “point a finger at Saudi Arabia which does its best”, to make the annual hajj pilgrimage possible.

“You have to see the glass as half full,” he said, adding that each country suffers failures.

The holy pilgrimage has been particularly deadly this year. On September 11, a crane fell at Mecca’s Grand Mosque, killing 109 people.

Then on Thursday at least 717 people were killed, and several hundred more injured in the worst tragedy to strike the annual Muslim pilgrimage in a quarter-century. (T/P001/R03)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)