TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Ministry of Religious Affairs reported that the second batch of Indonesian Hajj pilgrims had begun arriving in Jeddah on Friday, May 24, 2024. Two groups of pilgrims arrived simultaneously at Jeddah's King Abdul Aziz International Airport.

The two clusters consisted of 388 pilgrims from Cluster 27 of the Jakarta-Pondok Gede Embarkation (JKG-27) and 388 pilgrims from Cluster 10 of the Padang Embarkation (PDG-10).

The Indonesian Consul General in Jeddah, Yusron B. Ambary, said that today’s arrival marks the beginning of batch two of Hajj pilgrims in Saudi Arabia. "Alhamdulillah, everything went smoothly. The pilgrims arrived in good and healthy condition," he said in an official statement quoted on Friday.

Yusron explained that the Hajj pilgrims from the Jakarta cluster were part of the fast-track program. Thus, the pilgrims received a special welcome from the Immigration and Saudi Arabia.

Meanwhile, the Head of the Airport Working Area Abdillah stated that the arrival of the second batch of Hajj pilgrims today went smoothly. "The pilgrims have been sent to the hotel in Mecca to carry out the obligatory Umrah. They have been wearing ihram clothing since embarkation," said Abdillah.

Abdillah previously urged the Hajj pilgrims to wear ihram clothing from the embarkation point due to the limited time given at the King Abdul Aziz Airport in Jeddah. "The pilgrims are immediately directed to the bus so there is not much time to change into ihram clothing at the airport,” he explained.

The second batch of Hajj pilgrims departs for Saudi Arabia from May 24 to June 10, 2024.

YOHANES MAHARSO JOHARSOYO

Editor’s Choice: Singapore Airlines Incident: What to Know About Turbulence

Click here to get the latest news updates from Tempo on Google News