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Ministry still looking for 225 Indonesian pilgrims after Mina stampede
Muslim pilgrims walk past tents, a day after a stampede nearby in which more than 700 people died, in Mina, near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Friday
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Muslim pilgrims walk past tents, a day after a stampede nearby in which more than 700 people died, in Mina, near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Friday. (AP/Mosa'ab Elshamy) (AP/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
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span class="inline inline-center">Muslim pilgrims walk past tents, a day after a stampede nearby in which more than 700 people died, in Mina, near the holy city of Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Friday. (AP/Mosa'ab Elshamy)
Two-hundred twenty-five Indonesian haj pilgrims have reportedly not returned to their tents in Mina, Saudi Arabia, following Thursday's stampede tragedy.
Foreign Ministry director for Indonesian citizens and legal entities, Lalu Muhammad Iqbal, said Saturday that search groups from the Indonesian Consulate General in Jeddah had been sent out to find the missing Indonesians.
According to the head of the Religious Affairs Ministry's regional haj (Kadaker), Arsyad Hidayat, it was possible that the Indonesians had decided to go straight to their hotels instead of returning to the tents in Mina Jadid. Most of them stay in the Syisyah area, which is closer to Jamarat where the stoning ritual takes place.
Jamarat to Mina Jadid is around 7 kilometers away, while Jamarat to Syisyah is less than 5 kilometers.
Pilgrims who have not yet returned include 14 people from Batam, 19 people from Surabaya and 192 people from Jakarta or Bekasi.
Arsyad added that it was also possible that the Indonesians were lost while trying to find their way back.
According to the Foreign Ministry's latest report, three Indonesians were killed during the stampede. Two of them had been identified as 51-year-old male Hamid Atwi Tarji Rofia from Surabaya and 50-year-old female Busyaiyah Sahel Abdul Gafar from Batam.
According to kompas.com, the third victim was reportedly identified as Sugeng Teriyanto from Semarang, Central Java.
On Friday, at least six Indonesian pilgrims were injured and were being treated at the Jizrul Mina Hospital, King Abdullah Hospital and the 107 Mecca Clinic.
The Religious Affairs Minister Lukman Hakim Saifuddin said on Friday night that the ministry was currently investigating information from survivors that said Indonesian pilgrims were led by the Saudi security officers to take a different route to reach the Jamarat, which passed through the stampede location on Thursday morning.
Lukman also said that the Indonesian government would continued to improve the haj service and it called on the Saudi government to resolve the issue so that a similar incident would not occurred in the future. (edn/kes)(++++)
