Tragedy struck the Zamfara State chapter of the ruling party, All Progressives Congress (APC), yesterday , when the party lost three council chairmen in Makkah, Saudi Arabia.
Killed were Jafaru Gidan Sambo of Kaura Namoda Local Government Area, Mudi Mallamawa of Shinkafi LGA and Abdullahi Shugaba Ruwan Dorowa of Maru LGA.
The trio died in a bus crash 120 kilometres from Madina while travelling from the holy city to Makkah.
But Nasiru Anka of Anka LGA, Tafa Nasarawa Bukkuyum of Bukkuyum LGA and Garba Ziti of Gummi LGA survived the crash.
Commissioner in Charge of Health Matters, the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON), Dr. Ibrahim Kana, confirmed the development.
He said the Saudi authorities called to inform Nigerian officials of the accident.
The corpses were immediately moved to the King Fahd Hospital, Madina while the survivors were rushed to a hospital near the scene of the accident, on the outskirts of Madina.
Kana said that a team of Nigerian medical team had been dispatched to Madina, on the orders of NAHCON chairman, Abdullah Mukhtar Muhammad, to liaise with the Saudi authorities for necessary documentation and burial arrangements.
The recent incident brings the number of pilgrim deaths in the holy land to 10 this year.