JEDDAH, 25 January 2004 — At least 66 pilgrims were injured, five of them seriously, when flash floods hit parts of Makkah on Friday, hampering traffic on Umm Al-Joud, Al-Mansour and Al-Haj Streets.
Civil defense officers rescued 47 pilgrims and seven families from the rainwaters.
Col. Jameel Arbaeen, director of civil defense in Makkah, said his department had used a helicopter to rescue the families from a flooded area in Umm Al-Joud, west of the city.
Forty-seven pilgrims from Egypt were stranded in their bus in the flooded Al-Mansour Street.
Dr. Aymen Niazi, director of the emergency, safety and ambulance service department, confirmed that 66 pilgrims had been injured. Thirty-seven of them were treated at Ajyad Hospital while 29 others were taken to health centers, he said. The Saudi Red Crescent Society said it had deployed 32 rescue teams to help pilgrims. “We have not received any call informing us of deaths or serious injuries,” Al-Nadwah Arabic daily reported quoting a Red Crescent official. Police diverted buses carrying pilgrims onto safer roads.
Because of the rains, street vendors selling umbrellas in Makkah made sizable profits. Limousine drivers also exploited the situation, some charging SR30 instead of the usual SR10 to take pilgrims a short distance.
More than 1.2 million pilgrims have already arrived from abroad for the Haj which is scheduled to start on Jan. 30. According to Maj. Gen. Abdul Aziz Sajeeni, director general of the Passports Department, more than one million pilgrims have come by air.
Importance of Cleanliness: Haj Minister Iyad Madani has called upon pilgrims to keep their surroundings neat and tidy. “Cleanliness is a quality of advanced nations and is essential for preventing the spread of disease and epidemics,” Al-Watan Arabic daily quoted the minister as saying. He said the Haj Ministry had conducted seven regional workshops to teach pilgrims the importance of cleanliness, adding that 45 countries had participated in the program.
Haj Permits: The Passports Department and the Civil Affairs Department will accept applications from Saudis for Haj permits until Thursday, Interior Ministry announced yesterday. Nasser Al-Hanaya, assistant undersecretary at the ministry, said the applicants should not have performed Haj during the past five years and should have entered into a contract with a licensed domestic Haj service agent.
Guest Pilgrims: The first group of pilgrims from the Czech Republic and Hungary, who are guests of Custodian of the two Holy Mosques King Fahd, arrived at King Abdul Aziz International Airport here yesterday. Dr. Saleh Al-Wohaiby, secretary-general of the World Assembly of Muslim Youth, said the group included a number of government officials, Islamic preachers and converts. King Fahd is hosting some 1,000 pilgrims from different parts of the world this year.
