No Indonesian among Mecca fire victims

JAKARTA (JP): No Indonesians have been found among victims of Tuesday's fire that ravaged Mina city in Saudi Arabia and killed hundreds of pilgrims, an official said yesterday.

Sofyan Daud, the head of Indonesian haj affairs in Mecca, said yesterday that he visited the location of the fire, some five kilometers east of the Islamic holy city, to seek information and ascertain that no Indonesians were among the victims.

He said that when the fire broke out, Indonesian pilgrims were still on their way from the city to the Plain of Arafat to conduct the wuquf (standing), the climax of the arduous haj rites.

Saudi authorities said most of the victims were pilgrims from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

A number of Indonesian haj pilgrims in Mecca said they did not see the panic and confusion that gripped the pilgrims fleeing the fire. "We heard the news, but we did not see the fire when it happened," one said.

Sofyan said that 70,000 tents, erected on a vast area in Mina to shelter pilgrims from the scorching sahara sun, were destroyed in the fire. Some 17,000 tents erected to shelter some 170,000 Indonesian pilgrims also went up in smoke.

The temperature in Mina yesterday was 40 Celsius centigrade.

Sofyan said Saudi authorities expected to finish erecting new fire-resistant tents and other facilities today.

Minister of Religious Affairs Tarmizi Taher appealed to the families and relatives of the pilgrims to remain calm.

"Let's all pray to Allah that the pilgrims can complete their religious obligation undisturbed," he said.

Tarmizi said that so far no Indonesian victims had been found. But several Indonesians using the ordinary green passports, rather than the specially-issued brown haj passports, were still unaccounted for, he said.

The fire was ignited by exploding canisters of cooking gas. Fanned by strong wind, the blaze spread rapidly.

The fire forced hundreds of thousands of pilgrims to spend the night without shelter. (12)