Staff Reporter :
At least 88 Bangladeshi Hajj pilgrims have died of various reasons in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia so far.
The latest bulletin of Bangladesh Hajj Management Portal under the Ministry of Religious Affairs confirmed the figure of deaths.
Muhammad Maqsudur Rahman, councillor (Hajj) of Bangladesh Hajj Mission in Saudi Arabia, said that 90 per cent of the deceased were aged over 60, while only five to six per cent of them were younger.
Of the deceased, 77 are male and 11 female, he said.
Most of the elderly Hajjis died of cardiac arrests, strokes and kidney failures while two died in a road accident and another pilgrim died felling from hill in Makkah, the Hajj councillor said.
Asked, Maqsudur said the elderly Hajj pilgrims, in most cases, died of different ailments and health complications.
He further said Bangladeshi doctors were providing round-the-clock health services to all Bangladeshi Hajj pilgrims and have the required stock of medicines.
All the deceased were buried in Saudi Arabia as per the will of their family members, Maqsudur said.
He, however, added that there is no bar from the Saudi authorities if family members of any deceased want to bring back their near and dear ones and bury them in the country.
A total of 145 Bangladeshi Hajj pilgrims died in 2018, while 162 died in 2017 and 191 in 2016, he said.
This year, some 1,26,923 pilgrims from Bangladesh performed Hajj.
Meanwhile, Biman Bangladesh Airlines and Saudi Arabian Airlines have started operating their return Hajj flights from August 17, which will continue till September 15.
