Twenty-five more Indian Haj pilgrims have died in Saudi Arabia since January 11, taking the total Indian casualties to 256 so far, according to reports received in Srinagar on Wednesday.

Most of the pilgrims died of natural causes, mainly due to cardiac arrest, with a few dying in road accidents.

While 53 deceased pilgrims were from Kerala, 52 belonged to Uttar Pradesh, 24 from Karnataka, 23 from Maharashtra, 19 from Tamil Nadu, 16 from Gujarat, 14 from Andhra Pradesh, 12 from Rajasthan, 11 from Jammu and Kashmir, 9 from Bihar, 8 from Madhya Pradesh, 4 each from West Bengal and Uttaranchal, 2 each from Assam and Puducherry and 1 each from Manipur, Haryana and Delhi.

The deceased Haj pilgrims from Jammu and Kashmir included Ghulam Qadir Bhat, the brother of Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad.

However, the five-day Haj ended on January 1 without the deadly crowding or violent clashes, which has marred the pilgrimage during other years.

Last January, about 362 pilgrims were crushed to death during a stone-throwing ritual at the Jamarat Bridge in the worst Haj tragedy in 16 years. In 2004, 250 pilgrims died at the same spot.

All able-bodied Muslims are required to perform Haj at least once in their lifetime, if they can afford it. The pilgrims retrace the steps of the Prophet Mohammed in one of the world's biggest annual mass gathering of the people on the planet.