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Oldest pilgrim, aged 104, leaves for Saudi Arabia
Baiq Mariah, a 104-year-old woman from Gunungsari district in West Lombok regency, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), left on the haj in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, on Saturday
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aiq Mariah, a 104-year-old woman from Gunungsari district in West Lombok regency, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), left on the haj in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, on Saturday.
She is the oldest among some 220,000 haj pilgrims from Indonesia this year.
“We have given her special attention and assistance. Some of our officials also departed to assist her,” Nasaruddin, the head of the Religious Affairs Ministry’s NTB representative office, said at Lombok International Airport on Saturday.
Baiq joined the first haj flight from the Lombok embarkation point that day.
As many as 450 pilgrims boarded the Garuda Indonesia Boeing B747-400.
From NTB alone, there are 4,510 pilgrims this year. They will fly to Saudi Arabia on Garuda planes until Aug. 24.
According to Nasarudin, 4,514 pilgrims were initially scheduled to depart, but two of them were too ill to fly and another two had died.
The Lombok general manager of state airport operator PT Angkasa Pura I, I Gusti Ngurah Ardita, said flights carrying returning haj pilgrims would land in Lombok between Sept. 22 and Oct. 6.
Previously, Barlian, an expert staff member at the Health Ministry, during a preparation briefing before hundreds of departing pilgrims, reiterated the importance of taking care of one’s health while in the Middle East.
“Most Indonesian pilgrims are elderly people who could be at high risk. In Mecca, they will join some 3 million pilgrims from around the world. Not to mention that the temperature could reach 50 degrees Celsius. The risk of catching a contagious disease [from other pilgrims] is quite high,” he said.
Some 220,000 Indonesian haj pilgrims will leave from 12 embarkation points this year.
The government has partnered with Garuda Indonesia and Saudia Airlines.
Garuda serves pilgrims departing from Jakarta, Banda Aceh in Aceh, Medan (North Sumatra), Padang (West Sumatra), Surakarta (Central Java), Banjarmasin (South Kalimantan), Balikpapan (East Kalimantan), Makassar (South Sulawesi) and Lombok.
While Saudia flies from four embarkation points, namely Jakarta, Batam in Riau Islands, Palembang (South Sulawesi) and Surabaya (East Java).
As of Sunday, at least 17 Indonesian haj pilgrims had reportedly died in Saudi Arabia.
