Hadj 2012: 700 Algerian pilgrims left in the lurch in Mecca

About 700 Algerian pilgrims, now in the holy places of Islam in Saudi Arabia for the Hadj pilgrimage, are reportedly facing a lot of constraints and hurdles in terms of decent accommodation and transport due to the blatant negligence shown by a travel agency which initially took in charge their stay in Mecca and Medina in exchange for 50.000 dinars.

• About 700 Algerian pilgrims, now in the holy places of Islam in Saudi Arabia for the Hadj pilgrimage, are reportedly facing a lot of constraints and hurdles in terms of decent accommodation and transport due to the blatant negligence shown by a travel agency which initially took in charge their stay in Mecca and Medina in exchange for an additional sum of 50.000 dinars.
• One of the hapless pilgrims got in touch yesterday with the newspaper Echorouk to whom he related the difficulties of all sorts now facing the 700 Algerian pilgrims because of the couldn’t care less attitude of the managers of this travel agency who left them stranded in Mecca, thus jeopardizing their planned travel to Mount Arafat for the essential ritual there which marks the end of the Hadj or pilgrimage to the holy places of Islam.
• He said that this agency had reneged on its pledges to take care of the registered 700 Algerian pilgrims who were housed in a hotel lacking all basic amenities including proper sanitation, drinkable water and lifts.
• The disgruntled hadji added that this faulty travel agency had provided only one bus to transport the 700 pilgrims to Mount Arafa contrary to earlier commitments made during the signing of the deal in Algeria.
• He also indicated that many hadjis had sustained illnesses on account of the appalling living conditions in this low-grade hotel rented by this travel agency stressing that if a solution was not found swiftly to this dire situation, the 700 duped Algerian pilgrims could miss the essential Mount Arafa ritual, as the Hadj or pilgrimage without the standing of the Muslim Hadjis in Mount Arafa is declared as null and void, according to the lofty precepts of the religion of Islam.