NAHCON adopts DNA matching to identify remains of the dead

Reports say the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), yesterday, announced that the number of Nigerians that died in the Hajj 2015 stampede, has risen to 168.

The commission also said they will adopt DNA matching to identify the remains of the dead.

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Sun Newspapers reports that the Commission’s Director of Public Affairs, Mallam Uba Mana, said “There are procedures in declaring someone dead. The mere fact that we are yet to see the corpses of the missing Nigerians is enough strong reason not to declare them dead. I can confirm to you that there are ongoing efforts to locate them or better still, identify their remains among the dead.”

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Muna also said “The DNA matching have been done here in Saudi Arabia for some of the families of those affected, for the purpose of identification. However, the Commission is also making efforts to ensure that others in Nigeria can travel down to Saudi Arabia or submit their blood samples for matching. This, we believe will go a long way to help the situation too.”

Read: Nigeria's death toll rises to 75

He said “I implore Nigerians to be patient with us, as we shall not fail to give an update on the situation, as they are made available to the Commission.”