New concern in Jakarta over reports of stampede in Mecca

New concern in Jakarta over reports of stampede in Mecca

JAKARTA (JP): Preliminary reports from Saudi Arabia suggesting
that there were no Indonesians among the hundreds believed to
have died in a stampede during the haj pilgrimage may not be
accurate, officials here said.

Minister of Religious Affairs Tarmizi Taher told reporters on
Tuesday that he could not ascertain for sure that there were no
Indonesians among the victims of the Monday's stampede in Mecca.

At least two of the victims were reported to be wearing
sarongs, which are only worn by pilgrims from Indonesia and
Malaysia.

Malaysian officials have ascertained that they are not
Malaysians, Tarmizi said. He added that Indonesian officials on
location are still checking their identities.

The Saudi authorities have not issued any statement on the
actual number of victims but various independent reports,
including one from a reporter of Kompas daily, said that up to
200 people may have been killed during a ritual to stone the
devil in Mina, near the holy city of Mecca.

According to Agence France Presse, Saudi authorities report
that the pilgrims were trampled to death on Monday. The report
also said that Mecca hospitals were unable to give a precise toll
because many of the casualties were taken out of the city.

The reports brought memories of a similar stampede four years
ago, also in Mina, in which more than 1,400 people were killed,
including nearly 650 Indonesian pilgrims. At that time, the
incident threatened to sour relations between Indonesia and Saudi
Arabia.

An Indonesian official in Saudi Arabia said yesterday no
Indonesian pilgrims had been killed in this week's stampede. The
official, Hasyim, told The Jakarta Post by phone from Riyadh last
night that the victims were mostly Africans.

Different versions

Tarmizi said he had no knowledge of the exact number of
victims. "There are many different versions. Some say 200. Others
say much less than that. It's not clear," said Tarmizi.

The minister said the number of pilgrims taking part this year
has swollen to a record five million people, twice the number of
last year.

The number of Indonesian pilgrims itself soared to a record
165,000 from 123,000 last year.

There were reports of logistic problems during the course of
the pilgrimage and of Indonesian pilgrims being left stranded
without buses or having to spend the night outside their assigned
tents because they were already filled past capacity.

As the first flights bringing back Indonesian pilgrims were
leaving Jeddah yesterday, the Ministry of Religious Affairs
reported that a total of 236 Indonesians have died in Saudi
Arabia during the course of pilgrimage, mostly of old age, heat
stroke, and various illnesses. Last year, a total of 394
Indonesian pilgrims died.

Nineteen planes carrying the first returnees are scheduled to
arrive today. Minister of Information Harmoko, who is the Amirul
Haj (chief of the Indonesian haj delegation), will be on the
first plane to arrive at the Halim Perdanakusuma airport this
morning.

Altogether, 19 planes leased by the government for the haj
operation will be making a total of 250 flights to bring the
Indonesian pilgrims home between today until June 24.

Saudi Arabia has spent billions of dollars on projects to
improve the safety of the haj and make the pilgrimage more
comfortable. It has also imposed quotas on Moslem countries to
limit the number of pilgrims and ease overcrowding.

The pilgrimage to Mecca, which all Moslems are expected to
perform once during their lives if they can afford it, officially
began on May 20 this year but pilgrims began arriving several
weeks beforehand. (11)