MAKKAH, 29 November 2007 — The local Civil Defense yesterday saved an elderly pilgrim after the man climbed on a mountain in a deserted area outside Makkah.
Lt. Col. Ali Al-Muntashri, spokesman of the Civil Defense, said the Pakistani pilgrim had a history of mental illness and was angry over something, and that the officers had to cool him down before carrying out the rescue operation.
He said the department’s operations room received a call informing them about the presence of an elderly man on the Rea Bakhsh mountain.
Al-Muntashri said the department had sent two rescue teams and another with ladders.
The rescue workers successfully brought down the man and took him to Al-Noor Hospital for treatment.
The department called upon foreign Haj missions to instruct their pilgrims not to go to dangerous areas. A large number of people assembled to witness the rescue operation.
