The World - News from Oct. 18, 1987

The bodies of 55 Iranian pilgrims killed in July rioting in Mecca were returned by Saudi Arabia to Iran, where their coffins were paraded through the airport in the capital, Tehran radio reported. The radio said the coffins were met at Mehrabad Airport by Mehdi Karroubi, the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini’s representative at this year’s pilgrimage, other officials and families of the dead. A special funeral service will be held in Tehran on Friday, and the radio asked “revolutionary people” to participate in the ceremony. More than 400 people were killed in Mecca on July 31 when an Iranian-organized demonstration turned violent.