Last haj pilgrims arrive

JAKARTA: Indonesia's last haj pilgrimage flight for this year landed on Friday at Hasanuddin airport in Makassar, South Sulawesi.

The haj pilgrims were greeted by the Ministry of Religious Affairs' secretary-general, Faisal Ismail, and South Sulawesi Governor Amin Syam, the ministry's official website informasihaji.com reported.

Earlier in the day, 308 pilgrims also arrived at the airport. The pilgrims came from Makassar and the regencies of Pinrang, Jeneponto, Sinjai, Bantaeng, Pol Mas, Sopeng, Sidrap, Wajo, North Luwu, Luwu, Palopo and Takalar. Some of the pilgrims were also from North Sulawesi, Maluku and Papua.

Also arriving home on Friday were the last batches from Jakarta, Surakarta in Central Java and Medan in North Sumatra.

This year's haj pilgrimage was marred by a stampede that killed 57 Indonesians on Feb. 1. A total of 516 out of around 205,000 Indonesian pilgrims died while performing the pilgrimage this year. -- JP