Last Batch of Indonesian Hajj Pilgrims Leaves Wednesday Evening

Mecca (Antara) - The last batch of Indonesian Hajj pilgrims set off at the Aceh embarkation point at 5:40 p.m. Indonesian Western Standard Time, expecting to arrive at Jidda airport at 9 p.m. local time, Hajj officials said. The last Indonesian Hajj pilgrimage batch, comprising 440 pilgrims, is set to arrive at Jidda airport only three hours before Saudi authorities are scheduled to officially close Hajj arrivals from across the world at midnight on Wednesday, according to Miftahul Maulana Mardiyono, section chief of the Indonesian Hajj Organizing Committee for the Mecca area (Daker Mekkah). "By Wednesday, at midnight, all pilgrims from across the world will have arrived in Mecca," Chairman of Daker Mekkah Arsyad Hidayat said here on Wednesday. As of Wednesday morning, a total of 151,500 Indonesian Hajj pilgrims had arrived in Mecca, and 15 flight batches, or some 3.7 thousand pilgrims had not yet arrived. "We hope they are not held up on their way to Mecca, so they will arrive on time," he remarked. The last flight batch from Aceh is expected to depart for Mecca immediately upon their arrival at Jidda airport. Meanwhile, some 54 Indonesian Hajj pilgrims have died so far during the current pilgrimage season. (*)