Baku, Azerbaijan, September 26
By Khalid Kazimov -- Trend:
The Iranian Hajj and Pilgrimage Organization has released the names of 336 Iranians who went missing following the September 24 stampede of Mecca where hundreds of people died.
The latest reports say that 131 Iranians were killed, 83 were injured, and 336 went missing in the wake of the incident, the report said September 26.
Reportedly, former Iranian ambassador to Lebanon Qazanfar Roknabadi is among the missing.
Other prominent names among the missing are Middle East affairs expert Aliasqar Fouladgar, Quran reciters Mohsen Haji Hassani Kargar, Foad Mashali, Amin Bavi, and Hassan Danesh, and IRINN reporter Hamidreza Hosseini.
Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi on his Instagram page called for Iranians to pray for the missing, his colleague Roknabadi in particular.
Roknabadi's brother has told reporters that their family has not been able to contact the former diplomat since before the stampede.
He denied a Lebanese news agency's report that the former Iranian diplomat was dead.
The stampede took place on September 24 during the hajj outside holy city in Saudi Arabia, when the pilgrims were performing the symbolic stoning of the devil by throwing stones at three pillars. This year over two million pilgrims are performing the Hajj.
A total of 61,000 Iranian pilgrims are in Saudi Arabia for Hajj rituals.
This year pilgrims have been undeterred by the collapse of a construction crane in Mecca earlier this month, which killed more than 100 people and injured at least 200.
Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei declared three days of national mourning following the catastrophe.
Ayatollah Khamenei also called on the House of Saud to assume responsibility for the incident.
"The Saudi government is obligated to shoulder its heavy responsibility in this bitter incident and meet its obligations in compliance with the rule of righteousness and fairness. Mismanagement and improper measures that were behind this tragedy should not be overlooked," the Leader said.