DHAKA: Eighteen more Bangladeshi pilgrims, who went to perform holy hajj this year, died in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) on last week.

However, with them the death toll now reached to 48.

According to the Bangladesh religious affairs ministry, the deceased included 40 men and eight women. Of them, 29 breathed their lasts in Makkah, 11 in Madina and eight in Jeddah.

Of the deceased, Mohammad Abdul Quaiyum, 62, who hailed from Nilphamari, died on Monday.

A total of two pilgrims passed away on Sunday.

They were identified as Mohammad Soped Uddin, 66, hailed from Panchagarh and Mohammad Malek Mredha, 81, hailed from Dhaka.

Earlier six pilgrims died on Saturday.

They were – Mohammad Abul Kalam Azad, 58, hailed from Chandpur, Mohammad Abdul Khalek, 70, hailed from Dhaka, Dilara Begum 55, hailed from Sylhet, Mohammad Abdul Jabbar, 71, hailed from Brahmanbaria, Shah Mohammed Amir Ali, 64, hailed from Brahmanbaria and Muhammad Belayet Hossain, 71, hailed from Gopalganj.

Muhammad Jomir Hossain, 77, hailed from Habiganj and Humayun Kabir, 54, hailed from Dhaka -- both died on October 3.

On October 2, two more pilgrims died.

They were identified as Abdul Mozid, 51, hailed from Bogra and Abul Hossain, 76, hailed from Kurigram.

Khandekar Hasan Ur Rashid, 63, hailed from Dhaka and Mojammel Haque Manik, 63, hailed from Noakhali died on October 1.

Earlier, Mohammad Ashraf Hossain, 65, hailed from Kushtia died on spetember 29 and Mohammad Dilwar Jahan Chowdhury, 67, hailed from Chittagong died on spetember 28.

Nevertheless, 30 more Bangladeshi pilgrims died earlier.

According to the Makkah hajj mission, the deceased are expected to be buried in Saudi Arabia.

However, this year, a total of 98,683 pilgrims from Bangladesh have got KSA visa to perform the holy hajj.

BDST: 1536 HRS, OCT 08, 2014