The oldest hajj pilgrim from Banjarmasin dies

Banjarmasin, S Kalimantan (ANTARA) - The oldest hajj pilgrim from Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan, Siti Hawariyah Utuh Hasan (93) was declared dead after carrying out wukuf, the peak of hajj ritual, in Arafat, Saudi Arabia.


"It is reported that she passed away on Sunday at 00.45 Saudi Arabia Time (WAS) in Muzdalifah," Head of the South Kalimantan Office of the Ministry of Religious Affairs H Noor Fahmi stated in Banjarmasin on Monday.

He said grandmother Hj Hawariah was from the 19th flight group or the last to depart from the Embarkation of Banjarmasin. She was the oldest of 682 pilgrims from Banjarmasin.

Noor Fahmi said, Muzdalifah is a place for pilgrims to stop and spend the night after leaving Arafat.

According to the report of health workers there, said Noor Fahmi, the status of the deceased to go to the Hajj was qualified even though she was 93 years old and using a wheelchair.

"Before going to Arafat she was quite healthy," he said.

However, when carrying out wukuf worship, Hj Siti Hawariyah was treated intensively at a health facility in Arafat.

"After that she reportedly improved, even she have a meal, then asked to be taken to Muzdalifah," he said.

When in Muzdalifah, continued Noor Fahmi, Hj Siti Hawariyah's health condition worsened, even unconscious, until she was declared dead.

"The deceased will be buried in Mecca," he said.

Previously, one of the pilgrims from Tabalong District, Nasram Saleh Saat bin Saleh (62) died after being treated at the Indonesian Hajj Health Clinic (KKHI) in Mecca, before the wukuf in Arafah.