REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- At least 90,132 Indonesian Hajj pilgrims arrived in Saudi Arabia as of 9 p.m. Saudi Arabia Standard Time on Friday, according to the Hajj Media Center of the Indonesian Religious Affairs Ministry.
The arriving pilgrims belonged to 229 flight groupings, the ministry's Hajj Media Center officer, Widi Dwinanda, told journalists at an online press conference, which was followed by ANTARA from Jakarta on Saturday.
They arrived in Saudi Arabia to perform this year's Hajj through the Amir Muhammad bin Abdul Aziz (AMAA) Airport in Medina and King Abdul Aziz International Airport (KAAIA) in Jeddah, she informed.
Regarding Hajj pilgrim deaths, Dwinanda said that the media center has so far recorded 11 fatalities.
The ministry informed earlier that the pilgrims who died would get "badal Hajj," which means that their obligatory Hajj to fulfill the fifth pillar of Islam would be performed by other people on their behalf.
For this year's Hajj season, Indonesia secured a pilgrim quota of 241 thousand through an agreement reached with the Saudi government on January 8, 2024.
The total figure comprises 221 thousand people making the pilgrimage under the initial quota and 20 thousand pilgrims under the additional quota approved by the King of Saudi Arabia.
The additional quota was secured by President Joko Widodo during a bilateral meeting with Saudi Arabian Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman al-Saud in October 2023.
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