Eighteen persons of Nigerian nationality have been confirmed to have died in Saudi Arabia during in course of the just concluded 2016 Hajj, according to the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON).

The victims who hail from Kogi, Bauchi, Kwara, Taraba, Niger, Kaduna, FCT. Even included in the number of the dead are foreign-based Nigerian pilgrims,

Ibrahim Kana who is the head of NAHCON’s medical team, had confirmed two pilgrims, among which is a 40-year-old woman, died in Madinah.

Three had equally lost their lives in Muna, another 13 died in Makkah. Even among the dead was a mentally ill woman.

Despite this, Kana, however remarked on the improvement in the 2016 death toll as he noted this would be the least toll in over four years. He however credited the decreased figure to improving sanitation, an enhanced medical awareness as well as compressed national medical team.

It would be recorded that the medical team attended to a number exceeding 21,000 patients from the start of the rites of Hajj rites, according to Mr. Kana.