Tuesday, January 17 2006 10:26 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Dubai: The number of Indians killed in last Thursday's stampede in the Saudi Arabian holy city of Mina has risen to 56 with four more people from Gujarat succumbing to injuries.

Four of them, including one couple, were from Baruch of Gujarat and they reached Mina through a travel agency, an Indian Consulate release said adding the number of Gujaratis killed in the stampede has risen from four to eight.

The total number of women killed in the stampede rose from 28 to 29.

Five couples, three from Uttar Pradesh and one each from Kerala and Gujarat, perished in the tragedy. The couple from Ambedkar Nagar of UP was the youngest couple while two other couples were from Sultanpur of UP. The couple from Kerala belonged to Palakkad while the lone Gujarati couple belonged to Baruch.

The oldest among the dead was 75-year-old Khatoom Begum of Jaipur while the youngest were 16-year-old Sheerin Bano from Ahmedabad and 19-year-old Mahmoodha Bee of Dhule (Maharashtra), the release said.

Information regarding the deaths of the pilgrims has been already conveyed to their immediate relatives and the Mission has already issued 39 No-Objection Certificates (NOCs) to the next of the kin of the deceased to facilitate burial in Mecca.

Atleast 367 people from around 30 countries lost their lives in the January 12 stampede in Mina, near Mecca, during the symbolic ritual of stoning the devil on the last day of the Hajj.