RIYADH, 27 January 2004 — Nine Bangladeshi Haj pilgrims have died so far during this pilgrimage season. The Bangladesh Ambassador Sharjil Hassan told Arab News that eight of them died due to natural causes; the ninth, Amir Ghulam 75, died in an unspecified road accident.
The accident occurred when Ghulam had alighted from a bus en route from Madinah to Makkah at a tea stall. Unaware of the missing passenger, the bus driver had continued toward Makkah when the other passengers drew his attention to Ghulam’s absence from the coach. The driver retraced his journey for 20 kilometers only to find his passenger dead on the road as a result of an accident, the ambassador said.
He announced that more than 85 percent of the 40,000 pilgrims from Bangladesh had already arrived in the Kingdom and the rest were expected here before Jan. 26. A network of 200 agents is making the Haj arrangements in coordination with the government of Bangladesh. The country’s national carrier, Biman, has allocated more than 60 of its 77 special flights to the Haj effort; other pilgrims are being flown in by Saudi Arabian Airlines.
The envoy said a team of officials from the embassy had already gone to help the consular staff based in Makkah to assist with welfare work that is being arranged by the embassy. A special medical team has come from Dhaka to look after the medical needs of the pilgrims, he said. Consisting of 60 medical and paramedical personnel, the team has been deployed at clinics in Makkah and Madinah. A team of 130 volunteers has been deployed to implement the services.
A 14-member Haj delegation led by a minister is expected to arrive in Jeddah immediately before the start of the Haj.
Mohammed Saifur Rahman, Bangladeshi minister of finance and guest of the Saudi government, told Arab News that the Kingdom had made “excellent” arrangements for the pilgrims.
