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BAMAKO, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- Sixty Malians died in the catastrophe that occurred on Sept. 24, 2015 in Mina, near Mecca, in Saudi Arabia and thirty others were injured, Mali President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita said in a message to the nation on Wednesday.
He said the figure concerns victims who have been effectively and formally identified.
The president said a joint prayer session will be organized after consultation with senior muslim religious authorities in the country.
Once the mourning period is over, he added, "we shall come up with modalities of accomplishing Hajj (pilgrimage) in a manner which does not go against the plan of Allah, but one that will allow our pilgrims to take necessary precautions to avert tragedies such as the one we have witnessed."
Keita said the delay in announcing the death toll "was because the government wanted to get detailed and reliable information to communicate to people."
