The Egyptian pilgrimage mission completed its preparations for taking the pilgrims to Arafat as of tomorrow. The mission reviewed all arrangements to avoid any problems that may occur in both Arafat and Mena. Some 1500 buses were provided to transport the pilgrims.
For his part, Minister of Administrative Development and Head of Mission Ahmed Darwish criticized the small number of preachers accompanying the pilgrims, which urged many pilgrims to file complaints.
In a press conference yesterday, Darwish said a recommendation will be attached to the final report that will be submitted to Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif, calling for increasing the number of preachers in the coming years. It will also call on the Ministry of Endowments to send its 130 preachers, of whom only 30 went with the mission. This urged Dr. Ahmed Omar Hashim, head of Parliament's Religious Committee, to call on MP Alaa Hassanein to file an urgent quest for notification to the Speaker against the ministry to find out what happened to the 100 visas that were allocated for preachers.
In a related context, Ministry of Tourism Undersecretary Osama El Ashry said travel agents will provide camps of their pilgrims in both Mena and Arafat as of today. The camps will be far from spillways and fully equipped. The mission announced yesterday that the number of deaths among Egyptian pilgrims increased to 13 after the death of secretary of the Minister of Trade and Industry Omar Ali Abdullah and 63-year-old Fawzy Gaballah. On the other hand, a number of pilgrims criticized the medical mission for lacking medicines.
Assistant Minister of the Interior Salah Hashim said allegations that the government will take money from sick pilgrims for transporting them to Al-Nour hospital are groundless. On the other hand, Prince Nayef bin Abdul Aziz, Saudi Interior Minister, reviewed the Saudi preparations for the completion of the pilgrimage without any problems. He also reviewed security preparations and Al-Gamarat Bridge (the bridge where pilgrims pelt three stone pillars symbolizing the Devil). The bridge cost 4 billion Saudi Riyals. It has 10 entrances accommodating 300,000 pilgrims an hour to prevent the recurrence of disaster like before.
