Hajj: Muslim pilgrims 'furious' after being 'left without services promised'
Hajj: Muslim pilgrims 'furious' after being 'left without services promised'
One Twitter user on Thursday said that their Mina tent had no air conditioning, saying 'we can't breathe in these tents' and that it 'feels like an oven'.
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Hajj is the Muslim pilgrimage that believers must make at least once in their life [CHRISTINA ASSI/AFP/Getty]
Some Muslims attending Hajj in Saudi Arabia are "furious" amid reports of pilgrims being left without the facilities they were promised.
Al Jazeera English correspondent Assed Baig tweeted a screenshot of what appears to be a list of services offered by Motawif, the official platform which caters to pilgrims from Europe and the West.
The services, which include air-conditioned camps, a medical clinic and cooled drinking water, relate to the Mina phase of the obligatory Islamic pilgrimage, where the faithful camp in tents near Mecca.
"We've been given none of these," Baig tweeted on Thursday.
"I'm fine. I personally don’t care. But there are many pilgrims here who are furious at the situation they've been put in by Motawif and they're asking me to highlight it."
We’ve been given none of these. I’m fine. I personally don’t care. But there are many pilgrims here who are furious at the situation they’ve been put in by @Motawif_SA and they’re asking me to highlight it. @MoHU_En pic.twitter.com/KTqMgHdFVB
— AssedBaig (@AssedBaig) July 7, 2022
Another Twitter user on Thursday tweeted that their Mina tent had no air conditioning, tagging Motawif and the Saudi Hajj ministry.
"We can't breathe in these tents. It feels like an oven," the user wrote.
"HELP!! We will die of heat stroke."
Another user posted a video in which a woman says that "absolute chaos is breaking out here".
"Men coming and trying to kick women out of [their] tents," the user wrote on Twitter on Thursday.
"Motawif is nowhere to be seen not even one staff member [at the] camp."
The footage showed men and women together in the same tent, but it was not possible to verify the video's date or location, or the allegation that men had attempted to force women out.
The New Arab has contacted the Saudi foreign ministry and London embassy for comment.
A comment request sent by email to the Hajj ministry could not be delivered.
The New Arab on 11 July used the live chat function on Motawif's website to ask if there was a press team it could contact.
The New Arab was told its journalist's contact details had been passed on to the relevant team.
Note: This article was updated at 13:54 BST (GMT+1) on 11 July 2022 to reflect The New Arab's use of the live chat function on Motawif's website.
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