Hajj stampede death toll tops 2,200

THE death toll from last month's hajj stampede has topped 2,200, according to tallies given by foreign officials, making it by far the deadliest disaster in the pilgrimage's history.

Saudi Arabia has yet to provide an updated death toll after saying 769 people died in the tragedy near Mecca, home of Islam's holiest sites.

But figures given by more than 30 governments around the world show that at least 2,223 foreign pilgrims died, according to an AFP tally.

Saudi authorities have not given a toll for any deaths among their own nationals.

The loss of life in the September 24 disaster far exceeds the 1,426 pilgrims who died in the hajj's worst previous incident -- a tunnel stampede in July 1990.

AFP