Kurdistan Region pilgrim dies after completing Hajj rituals

ERBIL — A Kurdish woman from Zakho has died in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, after completing the Hajj pilgrimage, the Kurdistan Region’s Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs announced Sunday.

“Regretfully, a pilgrim from Zakho, named Mariam Abdulaziz Yousif, passed away in the city of Mecca after completing the Hajj duties,” the ministry said in a statement.

She is the first Kurdistan Region pilgrim confirmed to have died during this year’s pilgrimage.

According to the Kurdistan Region’s Hajj and Umrah Directorate, 5,136 pilgrims from the region are performing Hajj this year. Of those, 1,646 traveled by land on May 16 and 17, while 3,490 traveled by air.

More than 25 pilgrims from the Kurdistan Region died during last year’s Hajj, many of whom entered Saudi Arabia on tourist visas arranged by local tourism companies. The use of tourist visas for Hajj has grown due to limited availability of official pilgrimage visas, which are allocated based on quotas tied to each country’s Muslim population.