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SAD! Over 1,300 deaths during Hajj due to intense heat, 83% pilgrims unregistered- Saudi
By Kayode Sanni-Arewa
Saudi Arabia said Sunday that more than 1,300 faithful died during the hajj pilgrimage which took place during intense heat and that most of them who died did not have official permits.
“Regrettably, the number of mortalities reached 1,301, with 83 per cent being unauthorised to perform hajj and having walked long distances under direct sunlight, without adequate shelter or comfort,” the official Saudi Press Agency reported.
An AFP tally last week, based on official statements and reports from diplomats involved in their countries’ responses, put the count at more than 1,100.
The dead came from more than 10 countries stretching from the United States to Indonesia, and some governments are continuing to update their totals.
Arab diplomats told AFP last week that Egyptians accounted for 658 deaths — 630 of them unregistered pilgrims.
The diplomats said the cause of death in most cases was heat-related.
Temperatures in Mecca this year climbed as high as 51.8 degrees Celsius (125 degrees Fahrenheit), according to Saudi Arabia’s national meteorological centre.
Riyadh had not publicly commented on the deaths or provided its own count until Sunday.
On Friday, however, a senior Saudi official gave AFP a partial count of 577 deaths for the two busiest days of hajj: June 15, when pilgrims gathered for hours of prayers in the blazing sun on Mount Arafat, and June 16, when they participated in the “stoning of the devil” ritual in Mina.
The official also defended Riyadh’s response, saying: “The state did not fail, but there was a misjudgement on the part of people who did not appreciate the risks.”
‘Heat stress’
The Saudi health minister, Fahd Al-Jalajel, on Sunday described management of the hajj this year as “successful”, SPA reported.
He said the health system “provided more than 465,000 specialised treatment services, including 141,000 services to those who didn’t obtain official authorisation to perform hajj,” according to SPA, which summarised an interview he gave to the state-affiliated Al-Ekhbariya channel.
Bishop Godwin Elim, the Senior Pastor at Live for Christ, aka Lifting Assembly in Abuja has said God’s Kingdom is the birthright of believers as this is not negotiable.
Naijablitznews reports Bishop Elim made this assertion on Saturday in his sermon drawing vivid examples from bible passages and real life examples.
This is part one of the series to run through the week.
Watch clip below;
The All Progressives Congress, APC has won all 20 Chairmanship and 236 Councillorship seats in the Ogun LG Polls.
Naijablitznews reports that the Ogun State Independent Electoral Commission (OGSIEC) on Sunday, declared all the 20 chairmanship candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC) winners of Saturday’s local government elections conducted in the state.
The Chairman of the commission, Babatunde Osibodu also declared all 236 APC councillorship candidates as winners of the election while presenting the official results of the polls at the commission’s headquarters at Oke-Ilewo, Abeokuta, the state capital.
Osibodu said the ruling party, APC, emerged victorious across all the 20 local government areas and 236 wards in the state by polling a total of 613,156 votes cast in the exercise which witnessed major political parties like the Accord Party (AP), African Action Congress (AAC), African Democratic Congress (ADC), Action Democratic Party (ADP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC), participating.
Other political parties that participated in the exercise included the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Labour Party (LP), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Social Democratic Party (SDP), Young Progressive Party (YPP), Action People’s Party (APP), Action Alliance (AA), Boot Party (BP), People’s Redemption Party (PRP), National Rescue Movement (NRM) and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP).
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa as the winner of the guber election conducted in Ondo State on Saturday.
Aiyedatiwa, who is the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the election.
He polled a total of 366,781 votes to defeat his closest rival in the election, Agboola Ajayi, who is the candidate of the People’s Democratic Party in the election.
The APC cleared all 18 local government areas.
While the PDP polled a total of 117,845 votes, the Labour Party (LP) polled 1,162 votes and the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) polled 2,692 votes.
Prof Olayemi Akinwunmi announced the result of the Ondo governorship election at the State headquarters of INEC in Akure.
VIDEO: God’s kingdom is your birthright it’s not negotiable -Bishop Elim(Part 1)
BREAKING: APC Picks All 20 Chairmanship, 236 Councillorship Seats In Ogun LG Polls
BREAKING: INEC declares Aiyedatiwa of APC winner of Ondo guber election
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