240 Hajj Pilgrims Died, Health Evaluation is the Government's Main Agenda

JAKARTA - Minister of Hajj and Umrah Mochamad Irfan Yusuf revealed that the number of Indonesian pilgrims who died during this year's Hajj pilgrimage reached around 240 people. This figure is still far from the government's target, so it is a serious concern in evaluating the implementation of Hajj.

According to Irfan Yusuf, one of the recommendations conveyed by the Amirul Hajj team is the strengthening of health services for pilgrims so that the death rate can be suppressed in the upcoming hajj season.

"The number of deaths is 240. This has indeed improved compared to last year, but it is still far from our expectations. We hope that the number will be around 150 people, but it still exceeds the expected target," said Irfan Yusuf in his statement, Monday, June 8.

Apart from health aspects, the government also evaluates a number of services during the peak of the hajj, especially in the Mina area which is one of the most crowded points during the hajj.

He admitted that services at Mina are still one of the weaknesses because all pilgrims from various countries gather in an area with limited area. If Arafah has an area of about 17 square kilometers, Mina is only about 8 to 9 square kilometers and the area that can actually be used is less than 5 square kilometers because part of the area is a rocky mountain.

"There is a very large number of pilgrims in Mina, so it is a challenge in itself to provide optimal services," he said.

Evaluation was also carried out on the timeliness of transportation during the Armuzna phase, namely the movement of pilgrims from Arafah, Muzdalifah, to Mina. Although in general it went according to plan, there were a number of delays at several points.

However, all the pilgrims were successfully moved from Muzdalifah to Mina before 07.00 local time so that no pilgrims had to stay too long in the sun.

Meanwhile, the prayer bus service connecting the hotel to the Grand Mosque is considered to be running quite well. The government hopes that the transportation service can be more optimal in the upcoming Hajj season so that pilgrims do not have to wait long after completing the series of worship.

Irfan Yusuf emphasized that the results of the evaluation would be the basis for improving the implementation of the Hajj next year, especially in improving health services, transportation, and the comfort of pilgrims while in the holy land.