Yahoo – AFP,
Arthur Macmillan, 3 Oct 2015
Tehran (AFP)
- The first bodies of Iranians killed in a stampede at the hajj arrived home
from Saudi Arabia Saturday after a controversial nine-day delay and questions
over the final death toll.
President
Hassan Rouhani and other top officials laid white flowers on coffins at a
sombre ceremony in Tehran for the 104 pilgrims -- among 464 Iranians declared
dead in the September 24 crush.
Iran has
accused Saudi Arabia of incompetence in its handling of safety at the hajj,
further souring relations already strained by the civil war in Syria and
conflict in Yemen.
Iranian
officials pray over the caskets
of Iranian pilgrims killed in the hajj
stampede
as the bodies arrived in Tehran
on October 3, 2015 (AFP Photo/Atta
Kenare)
|
The
president was accompanied by the heads of Iran's judiciary and parliament as
well as the chief of staff of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's office.
"Our
language in this accident was one of brotherhood and respect and the language
of diplomacy was used when necessary," Rouhani said. "If needed, the
language of authority will also be used."
Iran has
been deeply critical of the slow pace at which the Saudi authorities have
identified the dead.
More bodies
were expected to be flown home later on Saturday but Iran's health minister
said not all of the Iranian dead had yet been found and many were thought to be
lying unidentified in sealed containers.
"We
hope with Saudi cooperation, we can find the bodies of these victims which
might be among the corpses from other countries," Hassan Hashemi told the
official IRNA news agency.
Iranian
families face a further delay in receiving their loved ones for burial as DNA
testing has been deemed necessary.
"The
ID tags on the coffins do not match the victims' identities and the existing
lists in Mehrabad Airport," the ISNA news agency cited an unnamed official
as saying.
Memorial
ceremonies on Sunday
The tragedy
will be marked with memorial ceremonies in Tehran and in provincial capitals on
Sunday.
Iranian
President Hassan Rouhani (C)
attended a repatriation ceremony for the
pilgrims
who were among at least 464
Iranians killed in the hajj stampede on
September
24, 2015 (AFP Photo/
Atta Kenare)
|
"The
slightest disrespect towards tens of thousands of Iranian pilgrims in Mecca and
Medina and not fulfilling their obligation to transfer holy bodies will have
Iran's tough and fierce reaction," he said.
Rouhani
called for a fact-finding commission into the disaster as all Islamic countries
deserved to know the cause.
Saudi
authorities have yet to provide a breakdown of the nationalities of the 769
pilgrims they say died, but many countries have provided their own individual
tolls.
Tallies of
the dead from foreign officials and media from 24 countries put the dead at
1,036, well in excess of the Saudi figure.
With many
more pilgrims still listed as missing, Iranian officials say the real death
toll is between 2,000 and 4,000, and many of the dead have yet to be
identified.
It took a
week before Iran was able to confirm 464 of its nationals had died as officials
spent days scouring Saudi hospitals for the missing without success.
It is the
highest confirmed death toll among foreign nationalities by far. Egypt
has 126 dead and 110 missing, and Indonesia has 91 dead.
While Iran
has been vocal, official reaction elsewhere in the Muslim world has been more
restrained, although survivors and bereaved families have criticised safety
measures in place at the hajj.
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