100-plus RI haj pilgrims stranded in Jeddah

JAKARTA: More than 100 haj pilgrims from Banjarmasin in East Kalimantan were stranded at Jeddah's King Abdul Aziz airport in Saudi Arabia for more than 10 hours without food or drink while waiting for their onward journey to Madinah.

Antara reported from Jeddah on Sunday that these haj pilgrims were organized by PT Maratus Tours, and not part of the government-organized haj pilgrimage, and often referred to as non-quota haj pilgrims.

The news agency said that the pilgrims were stranded because the organizer could not find buses to transport them to Madina.

Meanwhile, Subchan Cholid, head of Indonesia's haj organizing committee for Jeddah area, said from time to time there were organizational problems facing independent travel agents.

He said the government could not prevent non-quota haj pilgrims from performing the annual religious ritual as the Saudi government had granted them entrance to perform the haj.

Antara also reported that as of Sunday, 3,650