The emergency and safety committee at the Haj Ministry’s branch in Madinah received a complaint on Saturday of food poisoning from the Indian pilgrims.

They said that they had eaten food provided by a certified contractor working with an office for Indian pilgrims’ affairs.

Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Albejaoa, director of the Haj Ministry’s branch in Madinah, told Arab News that the situation of food poisoning of the Indian pilgrims reflected poorly on the ministry and its efforts to provide a safe and disease-free Haj.

Albejaoa said he had assigned his assistant to oversee the pilgrims’ cases at the Ansar hospital where the sick pilgrims had been taken by Red Crescent teams.

However, the hospital reports said that tests and medical examinations have found no signs of food poisoning. “We have received no formal notification from the relevant authorities (the Health Ministry and Madinah Mayoralty) yet, that the pilgrims had suffered from a case of food poisoning,” Albejaoa said.

Albejaoa confirmed that pilgrims affairs offices are only authorized to sign contracts with the mayoralty-certified food contractors. The error in offering food services was a result of breaching the terms of the contract.

The Haj Ministry’s branch in Madinah has taken steps to penalize the Indian pilgrims’ affairs office as well.