TheCable

President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed sadness over Thursday’s tragedy in Saudi Arabia urging,  Salman bin Abdulaziz, king of the country, to identify flaws in the organisation of the spiritual exercise.

Buhari commiserated with families of the victims, recalling the earlier crane collapse in Mecca.

“The president has taken note of the assurance by the government of Saudi Arabia that Thursday’s catastrophe will be investigated and urges King Salman to ensure  a comprehensive and thorough exercise that will identify any flaws in Hajj organisation with a view to avoiding a recurrence of such tragedies during the annual pilgrimage,” read a statement issued by Garba Shehu, senior special assistant to the president on media and publicity.

“President Buhari commiserates with the Nigerian Guild of Editors and the Nigerian Union of Journalists on the sad loss of Hajiya Bilkisu, an exemplary, dedicated, knowledgeable, very credible, highly-respected, outstanding editor and columnist who, even in death, will remain a glittering role model for journalists, within and outside Nigeria.

“In the knowledge that it is not within our powers to question the will of God, President Buhari  prays that Almighty Allah will comfort the families who lost their beloved ones in the stampede and receive the souls of all those who died in the Holy Land while fulfilling the religious obligation of the Hajj.”

Buhari is currently attending the 70th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

Seven-hundred-and-seventeen pilgrims died in Minna on the last day of the 2015 pilgrimage. 805 persons also sustained injuries in the incident.