Manila, Philippines – Ten Filipino hajj pilgrims were injured in an accident while on their way to Arafat, Saudi Arabia last Saturday.
Four of them suffered serious injuries, reports said.
National Commission on Muslim Filipinos (NCMF) Secretary Bai Omera D. Dianalan Lucman is now awaiting a detailed report on the accident from the NCMF Hajj Supervisory Group (HSG).
Lucman said she has no names of the injured yet but said they are from the Lanao provinces.
Sketchy reports Lucman received showed that the bus the Filipinos were riding on had 60 people on board and was traveling very fast for Arafat, 9.65 kilometers from Makkah, also in Saudi Arabia, for the “Uqof“ or Standing in Arafat, the paramount rite of the hajj. When they were near their destination, the bus lost its brakes, forcing the driver to ram a street concrete barrier. “The bus turned turtle because of the high-speed impact,” Lucman said.
Meanwhile, a wet morning greeted Muslims in Metro Manila as they performed Eid’l Adha (Feast of Sacrifice) worship yesterday, with their religious leaders leading a prayer for peace in honor of the patriarch Abraham.
At the Maharlika Village in Taguig City, worshippers, such as fathers, mothers, children, and relatives, squeezed themselves into tight spaces as light rains forced them inside mosques, such as the Blue Mosque and Garden Mosque.
The Eid’l Adha prayer, done once a year, was also held at the Rizal Park and other Metro Manila mosques depsite rains. (Edd K. Usman)