Lembaga Tabung Haji (TH) has assigned 12 officers to undertake patrols and assist Malaysian pilgrims who are lost or facing difficulties in certain areas in Makkah.

TH Customer Service Centre manager Abu Shukor Jangga said the patrolling teams comprised auxiliary policemen and the Armed Forces Religious Corps (Kagat) who would be on duty in two shifts around the mosque and certain locations that had been identified.

“I advise Malaysian pilgrims to move in groups and to always wear the bracelet and name tags provided by TH so that they could be identified by the patrolling teams if they were to get lost,” he told reporters in Makkah today.

He said that for Malaysian pilgrims wishing to perform the optional umrah, they were reminded not to board the taxis alone but to find friends and move in groups.

TH only handled the obligatory umrah, that is, the first time the pilgrims entered the Holy Land in Makkah.

Abu Shukor said that last year, there were 673 cases of pilgrims who lost their way but they had been assisted by the patrolling teams.

“For this year, we fear that the number of cases of pilgrims getting lost may rise due to the closure of many routes around the mosque following the construction works being carried out there,” he said.

Meanwhile, Tabung Haji Media Manager (TH) Mohamad Naser Jaafar said about 10,000 Malaysian pilgrims were now in Makkah and Madinah.

Malaysian pilgrims in Madinah were now entering Makkah in stages and all of them would be in Makkah by Sept 29 when all the 33 flights from Malaysia to Madinah ended on Sept 20.

Beginning Sept 21, all flights from Malaysia would land in Jeddah to bring the pilgrims directly to Makkah and the last haj flight from Malaysia to Jeddah would be on Oct 9.

A total of 22,320 Muslims from Malaysia would perform the haj this season, a drop of 20 percent from the previous season due to the reduced quota by the Saudi Arabian government.

- Bernama