All 4,424 Malaysian pilgrims, who were already in Madinah as of Saturday, are in good condition and have undergone all the pilgrimage programmes conducted by the Pilgrims Fund Board (TH).

Madinah TH operations director Mohd Zawawi Bostam said only a small number had coughs and normal illnesses.

Mohd Zawawi, who is also Tabung Haji vice-consul-general in Jeddah, said the pilgrims must ensure they wore face masks when going out in the open to ward off dust due to the hot and dry weather.

This was to avoid breathing difficulties, he told Malaysian media after attending a Tahlil function in conjunction with the 57th national day celebration on Saturday.

He said the pilgrims must also wear suitable attire and drink plenty of water as the weather was 46 degrees Celsius during the day and 42 degrees Celsius at night.

He said the first batch of Malaysian pilgrims, namely those who arrived on Wednesday would move to Makkah on Thursday for the haj.

Meanwhile, two flights were to arrive yesterday, namely, the 14th Tabung Haji flight, with 279 passengers, that would depart KL International Airport at 11.20am Malaysian time and arrive at 2.50pm local time (7.50pm Malaysian time).

The 15th flight would depart at 6.36pm Malaysian time and arrive at the Prince Mohamad Bin Abdulaziz Airport here at 10.15pm local time (2am Malaysian time) with 276 passengers.

With the two flights, the number of pilgrims and haj personnel would be increased to 4,877 people.

- Bernama