DOHA: Amid fears triggered by the Mars and Ebola outbreaks, Qatar’s Haj mission has reassured that no pilgrim from Qatar was affected by any serious illnesses during the pilgrimage.
All performed the rituals smoothly and didn’t meet any untoward incidents, the Qatar News Agency (QNA) reported yesterday quoting Ali Mubarak Al Faihani, Executive Chairman of the mission.
No accident involving pilgrims from Qatar was reported during the pilgrimage, he said, adding Haj this year was a huge success in terms of safety and services provided to the pilgrims.
“We worked in coordination with tour operators (Muqawils) to ensure the pilgrims get the best services and no accident worth mentioning was recorded,” Al Faihani told reporters accompanying the Qatari delegation.
Asked how the mission would deal with the high temperature during the next Haj season, which will fall in the last week of September, Al Faihani said the mission will meet Muqawils to discuss the issue.
“We will explore all options to provide a suitable environment for pilgrims from Qatar since the next Haj will fall during the summer months,” he said.
He said pilgrims from Qatar will start returning tomorrow.
Dr Khalid Abdul Hadi, Head of the medical unit at the mission and senior official of Qatar Red Crescent, said the unit had not received any critical or uncommon cases until now.
“The number of cases reported at the unit has reached about 200 and all were regular cases like sore throat and common flu. Most patients were discharged in a maximum two hours,” said Abdul Hadi.
He said the unit will provide services round the clock until all pilgrims from Qatar return. The Peninsula
