Swine flu has killed four pilgrims in Saudi Arabia for the annual Hajj pilgrimage, the health ministry said in a statement carried by the official SPA news agency on Saturday. It was the first reported news of fatalities from the disease among pilgrims gathering in the kingdom for the pilgrimage which Muslims are obliged to undertake once in their lifetime if they have the means.
The ministry said a Moroccan woman, a Sudanese man and an Indian man - all aged 75 - had died from A(H1N1), as had a 17-year-old girl from Nigeria. It said the four had not followed "recommended procedures, especially vaccination against swine flu." Health ministry spokesman Dr Khaled Marghlani told AFP the four victims were all suffering from health problems already, including cancer and respiratory illness.
Three of the deaths announced on Saturday were in Madina and the fourth was in Makkah itself, the health ministry statement said. Marghlani said 16 other cases of swine flu infection among pilgrims had been detected, and that "four are in hospital in critical condition." Twelve people suffering from the disease had recovered completely after treatment, he said.
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