Pilgrims moving towards the Jamarat stations to symbolically stone the devil in Mina, Mecca on Friday.(EPA via The Straits Times/ANN)

The Religious Affairs Ministry has added more members to its search team to quicken the verification of victims of the recent Mina stampede tragedy in Saudi Arabia as there are still five containers of corpses of whom photos have not yet been released by the Saudi authorities.

"We have increased the members of our search team from four to nine people. Until Monday night, one container had not yet been opened and the other four had been brought to Jeddah since the Al Muaishim mortuary was no longer adequate," the ministry's regional haj head, Arsyad Hidayat, said on Tuesday as quoted by tempo.co.

The team members, including National Police and Indonesian Military officers, paramedics and specialist doctors, have been divided into two groups to look for Indonesian victims in Mecca and Jeddah.

Until Tuesday morning, up to 90 Indonesian haj pilgrims had yet to return to their lodgings since the stampede on Thursday.

"We have contacted the forensic team in Al Muaishim so that tomorrow we will be able to get the victims' fingerprints," said Arsyad.

Up to 46 Indonesians reportedly died in the stampede tragedy; four of the pilgrims were Indonesian nationals living in Saudi Arabia. (kes)(++++)

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