REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The Indonesian Consul General in Jidda and Interim Charg'e D'affaires in Riyadh arrived in Mina, Mecca, to check on Indonesian hajj pilgrims following a stampede incident on Thursday morning.
The Saudi defense authorities said up to 13.30 p.m, the number of dead in the Mina stampede, which took place at 7 a.m. local time during the Jamarah hurling ritual, had reached 310 while 400 people were reported to have been injured.
Indonesian Interim Charg'e D'affaires in Riyadh Sunarko said his team was checking a number of hospitals in Mina but till this afternoon, had not come across any Indonesian victim.
Sunarko explained that the incident took place at the Mina area when the pilgrims were heading towards the Jumroh Aqobah location to perform a hurling ritual. A group of pilgrims stopped all of a sudden, causing a large number of them to have suddenly accumulated at one place. This led to the stampede.
He said most of the victims were pilgrims from Yemen, Egypt and Africa.
In the meantime, the Indonesian Hajj Pilgrimage Committee (PPIH) has said it does not expect many Indonesians to be among the victims of the stampede incident in Mina, Mecca, that happened on Thursday morning.
Head of the PPIH for Mecca Desk (Daker), Arsyad Hidayat, said the incident took place along Arab Road 204 which is not the lane usually taken by the Indonesian hajjis going to perform the Jamarah hurling ritual.
He said that the Indonesian pilgrims in Mina were divided into 52 maktabs (divisions), of which 45 maktabs are in Harratul Lisan of Mina and seven maktabs are in Mina Jadid.
Hidayat said the Indonesian pilgrims in the Harratul Lisan would not have taken the Arab 204 lane but must have gone via the Muassim Tunnel while heading to the Jamarah to perform the ritual (the distance is about one kilometer).
They usually pass by the King Fahd Road or lane. The Arab Lane 204 where the incident took place is located to the left of the King Fahd Road.
"So, the possibility of a large number of Indonesian pilgrims having fallen victims is small," he said.
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