Egypt death toll from Haj crush rises to 55

(MENAFN- Arab News) CAIRO: Egypt says 55 of its citizens are among the more than 700 people who died in the Sept. 24 crush of Muslim pilgrims in Mina.
Minister of Religious Endowments Mohammed Mokhtar Gomaa told the state-run Middle East News Agency on Sunday that 120 Egyptian pilgrims are still missing and 26 are receiving treatment for injuries sustained during the disaster in the town of Mina near the holy city of Makkah.
Saudi authorities say at least 769 people died when two large waves of pilgrims converged on a narrow road in the deadliest event on the annual pilgrimage in a quarter-century. The Haj annually draws some 2 million pilgrims from 180 countries.
A breakdown of nationalities of dead pilgrims compiled on Sunday showed that Iran had the highest number of casualties at 144 dead and 323 missing.
Moroccan media listed 87 dead among their pilgrims while the official Saudi tally put it at 3 confirmed dead and many missing.
Egypt has the third biggest number of deaths at 55 followed by India at 35.
Niger reported 22 dead; Cameroon claimed at least 20 dead; Pakistan 18; Ivory Coast 14 dead and 77 missing; Chad 11; Somalia 8 dead according to media reports; Algeria 7;Senegal 5; and Tanzania 4.
Indonesia Kenya and Nigeria reported 3 dead each; Burkina Faso Burundi the Netherlands and Tunisia said they had 1 dead each and Benin reported an unspecified number of deaths. The Philippines was also reported to have lost one pilgrim in the stampede.

(Input from the Associated Press and Agence France Presse)