The death toll of Egyptian pilgrims in the Mina stampede has risen to 83, Minister of Religious Endowments Mohamed Mokhtar Gomaa announced Thursday.
Meanwhile, three Egyptian pilgrims who were reported missing were found.
The number of missing Egyptians is now estimated to be around 80. The number of injured persons from the incident has reached 17, the cabinet said on Wednesday.
The cabinet statement said Prime Minister Sherif Ismail is following up on the status of Egyptian pilgrims after the stampede that occurred at the end of the Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.
The Crisis Control Committee, led by Minister of Religious Endowments Mohamed Mokhtar Gomaa, who is also head of the Egyptian Hajj Mission in Mecca, is leading the efforts to follow up. Minister of Health Ahmed Rady joined the committee on Wednesday to intensify efforts.
Cabinet spokesperson Hossam El-Kawish stated that the prime minister is continuously following up to monitor the efforts undertaken by the official Hajj mission and the medical mission escorting the pilgrims.
The cabinet also emphasised the importance of the co-operation and efforts made by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to facilitate the work of the Egyptian mission, which is concerned with offering medical support to the injured and facilitating their return procedures, searching for the missing persons, and identifying the dead and completing the procedures of retrieving their bodies.
Wednesday’s cabinet meeting marked its first official meeting after the new cabinet formation. Saudi Arabia also saw a cabinet reshuffle upon the request of Saudi King Salman bin Abdul Aziz after the stampede.
Additional reporting by Asser Osama
