Ministry of Hajj and Umrah Requests Compensation for Umrah Pilgrims Affected by Bus Fire in Madinah

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Hajj Affairs Office of the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah (Kemenhaj) has requested that relevant parties provide fair compensation to Indonesian umrah pilgrims affected by a bus fire while travelling to Madinah, Saudi Arabia. “We are communicating with the muassasah to ensure the pilgrims receive fair compensation, given that all their belongings were also burned in the incident,” said Hajj Technical Staff of the Hajj Affairs Office (KUH), M. Ilham Effendy, in his statement in Jakarta on Saturday. Nevertheless, he revealed that all 24 Indonesian pilgrims on the bus were safe and were quickly evacuated. The fire occurred when the bus was about 50 kilometres from entering Madinah, specifically after passing the last checkpoint from Makkah, on Thursday (26/3) local time. Kemenhaj, through KUH, confirmed that all pilgrims continued their journey using a replacement bus prepared by the relevant parties and have now arrived in Madinah in stable condition. He assured that coordination with service providers in Saudi Arabia continues to ensure the pilgrims’ needs are met post-incident. In addition, Kemenhaj has urged all umrah pilgrimage organisers to improve transportation safety standards to guarantee the security and comfort of pilgrims while in the Holy Land.