Jammu, Nov 1: At least four pilgrims from Jammu and Kashmir have died in Saudi Arabia while undertaking the annual Hajj pilgrimage.
As per the information available on the official website of Hajj Committee of India, two pilgrims died on Monday while two others were reported dead earlier.
The pilgrims who died on Monday have been identified as Sona (66) S/o Ahmad Khan (Cover No JKF-10172-4-0 and Passport No J3197943) and Ali Muhammad (88) S/o Khazir Muhammad Wani (Cover No JKR-2084-4-0 and Passport No. J6070469).
A seventy-year old pilgrim Abdul Gaffar S/o Muhammad Ramzan (Cover No. JKR-2529-1-0 and Passport No. J2233924) died on October 24 while Muhammad Abdullah (76) S/o Ghulam Qadir (Cover No. JKR-8374-1-0 and Passport No. J7205062) died on October 22.
 All of them have died in Makkah, as per the information on the website.
 Meanwhile, More than 1.7 million Muslims, including 1,23,254 Indians have arrived for the world's largest religious gathering.
 "As of yesterday, the number of pilgrims who have already arrived in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to perform Hajj rituals this year reached 1,735,149," state news agency SPA reported.
 A total of some 1.8 million Muslims were expected to arrive in Saudi Arabia to perform the hajj this year, in addition to between 700,000 and 800,000 pilgrims from within the kingdom, Saudi Minister of Hajj Fuad al-Farsi said.
 "A total of 1,23,254 pilgrims have arrived from India. 1,22,787 are in Makkah and 405 pilgrims are in Madina. So far 432 flights have come from India," Consulate General of India in Jeddah said.
 "As of today 73 pilgrims have expired out of which sixty two came through Hajj Committee of India and eleven through Private Tour Operators," it said.
 The pilgrimage will peak on Saturday as Muslims gather in the plain of Mount Arafat, outside Makkah in the western region of the Kingdom.

Lastupdate on : Tue, 1 Nov 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Tue, 1 Nov 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Wed, 2 Nov 2011 00:00:00 IST