Many Cameroonians have lost their lives in the massive stampede which took place in Mecca on Thursday, an internal source at the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Decentralization (Minatd) revealed.

The unofficial information from Minatd indicated that 13 Cameroonian pilgrims lost their lives yesterday, September 24 in Mecca. 8 of them originated from the Adamawa Region, 2 from the North and 3 from the Far North.

More than 170 Cameroonian pilgrims are currently unreachable, we fear that the figures be revised upwards in the next few hours. The search to find them continues in hotels in the city and in mortuaries,” noted our contact at Minatd.

As a reminder, the stampede in Mecca has caused more than 717 deaths and more than 805 injured. According to many Saudi media, the death toll could rise.

As the fifth pillar of Islam, the pilgrimage to Mecca is very important to Cameroonian Muslims, who officially represent 20% of the 20 million populations.

This year approximately 4500 Cameroonian attended the Hajj in Saudi Arabia. Each had to pay nearly 2 million FCFA representatives of transport and support during the stay in Saudi Arabia.

At the local level, the feast of Tabaski took on strong safe voltage. Security and administrative authorities strengthened security measures around the Mosques throughout the country. No major incidents were observed. The Muslim religious authorities prayed for peace in the country.