HAJJ PILGRIMS. A team from the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh assists distressed Filipino Hajj pilgrims in Saudi Arabia on June 28, 2023. Some of the pilgrims were endorsed for medical care and had been discharged. (Photo courtesy of the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh)
MANILA — More than 200 Filipino Hajj pilgrims receive aid after getting stranded in Muzdalifah, near Mecca in Saudi Arabia, after performing the Fajr prayer on the morning of June 28, the Philippine Embassy in Saudi Arabia said Thursday.
Ten pilgrims were endorsed for medical care at the hospitals in the Mina area and have since been discharged.
In a text message, the embassy's Chargé d'Affaires Rommel Romato said no fatalities and serious need for medical attention were reported among the stranded Filipinos.
“(The National Commission on Muslim Filipinos said) all the pilgrims that were endorsed to the hospitals have been discharged from the hospital and have returned to their tents in Mina,” he said.
Citing the NCMF, Romato said the delay was due to the heavy traffic in Muzdalifah.
Traffic police had to control the movements of around 1,000 buses going around the mashaer area (holy sites) catering to all pilgrims of various nationalities, he added.
The embassy also deployed a team to assist and was able to locate and rescue some Filipino pilgrims who were lost in the Mina area, a large tent city where Muslims cast stones at pillars in a symbolic act meant to represent casting away sins.
"The Philippine Mission in Saudi Arabia, composed of the Embassy in Riyadh, Consulate and Office of the Hajj Attaché in Jeddah, were able to assist in the coordination of transport and emergency vehicles for the Filipino pilgrims as well as provided the pilgrims with food and water," Romato said.
Muzdalifah is a holy site where pilgrims spend the night in before heading for Mina after the Fajr or dawn prayer.
Based on embassy figures, more than 7,200 Filipinos are performing the Hajj in Saudi Arabia this year.
Hajj is the annual sacred pilgrimage of Muslims at the holy mosque called Masjid al-Haram in Mecca. (PNA)
