Free service offered for the pilgrims who get lost

Mutawwif Abdul Aziz Siraj Muhammad Hussain, chairman of Field Office No. 2, said the service is provided free of charge to any Haji who loses his way in Makkah or the Holy Sites.
According to Hussain, the office, which belongs to the Tawafa Establishment for South Asia Pilgrims, will provide guidance to lost pilgrims and will take them back to their places of accommodation or to wherever they want to go.
“We also receive pilgrims who want to visit our place and brief them about the services the government of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah is extending to the guests of God,” he said.
The center is located in the Masfalah district in the central area around the Grand Mosque. It is established on an area of 750 square meters, surrounded by a giant tent of 300 meters, which can accommodate up to 200 pilgrims.
“The center has a garden with couches and separate bathrooms for men and women in addition to a well-equipped clinic,” Hussain said.
He said there is a special tent in the center, which will be used as a quarantine for pilgrims with infectious diseases.
Hussain also said the center is equipped with surveillance cameras which can transmit pictures to the main office.
“We have placed snacks and bottles of water free of charge on tables in the center for pilgrims in addition to copies of the Holy Qur’an in various languages including English and Urdu, for them to take,” he said.
Hussain said every lost pilgrim would be given a prayer beads and a prayer rug as a gift from the center.
He said the center has a long-range beacon indicating its location so that pilgrims will not miss it. Hussain said it also has a computer to register data of lost pilgrims, providing a printout indicating the name of the group they belong to.
He said the center has 12 Volvo cars, of which two were made into ambulances. “We have another ambulance for emergency cases, a GMC car to transport pilgrims to distant places and a pick up to transport their luggage,” he added.
Hussain said qualified Saudi staff work at the center to provide excellent services to lost pilgrims. “We have four Saudi supervisors who work in shifts over 24 hours, two nurses, two paramedics, two data-entry employees, four drivers and 30 boy scouts to roam the areas surrounding the Grand Mosque looking for lost pilgrims to bring them to the center or take them to their Tawafa establishments or accommodation,” he said. Hussain said Makkah Gov. Makkah Prince Khaled Al-Faisal has praised the center during a meeting. He said the governor also welcomed the project of “mobile hospitality,” as the center is using mobile teams to help  pilgrims when their buses break down. He said the teams supply pilgrims with snacks, water and juices free of charge. “The broken vehicles are repaired free of charge,” he explained.