Tragedy struck at the Makkah residence of Niger State pilgrims to the 2018 Hajj, when a member of the contingent (name withheld) fell to his death from a faulty lift this morning.
Soon after the incident, the Commissioner in charge of health of the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), Dr. Ibrahim Abubakar Kana, representing the chairman of the Commission, paid a condolence visit to the bereaved contingent, urging them to take heart.
The NAHCON boss sought Allah’s forgiveness for the deceased and fortitude for his family to bear the loss.
According to him, immediately the tragedy was reported, NAHCON despatched medical personnel to the scene of the mishap; and after medical checks they certified the victim, dead.
He lamented that residence managers knew that the lift had been defective for days but they made no conscious effort to seal it off and warn pilgrims to keep away from it.
Dr. Kana said if they had taken such precautionary measures the mishap would have been averted, adding that host nation, Saudi Arabia’s authorities and security agents have intervened in the issue.
In his response, Niger State Amirul Hajj, Abubakar Magaji, expressed gratitude for the NAHCON boss’ concerns, urging him to investigate the incident and ensure that appropriate punitive measures are taken against the blameworthy to serve as deterrence and a re-occurrence of such incident.
In another sad incident, the Kaduna State Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board announced the loss of another pilgrim (name withheld), from Lere Local Government Area.
The victim, passed away at Muna Alwadee Hospital, soon after been diagnosed by the NAHCON medical team as diabetic emergency.