Riyadh: Indian Haj pilgrims, who are staying at the Azizia building in Makkah, Saudi Arabia, are facing difficulty accessing basic amenities.
Amidst the scorching heat with temperatures over 40 degrees Celcius approximately, Indian Haj pilgrims were left stranded for five hours with no power.
The pilgrims also face a scarcity of water and food leaving them miserable.
Taking to Twitter on Wednesday night, a journalist from Uttar Pradesh, Arsh Iqbal shared a purported video of the pilgrims explaining their ordeal.
“Azizia building Mecca which was closed in 1996 and has been opened for Haji people without proper arrangement, there is no light, no water, no food facility. People are worried there. Government of India should take action on the management in charge,” Arsh Iqbal tweeted.
In a purported video of the pilgrims residing at the Azizia building, an elderly Haj pilgrim narrates his ordeal stating, “We have been waiting outside the building for the past five hours, and there are diabetes, heart and blood pressure patients in the group. We are here to perform Haj rituals, not to die.”
“AC, fans, and stoves are not working in the building. We want all of us to be shifted,” alleged another pilgrim.
“Where do we go with our women? All of us are sitting on the road here,” added a third pilgrim.
The Indian Embassy in Jeddah in their reply to the call for help, tweeted, “As soon as we received the information our team visited the building. Power failure in that lane was found to be the reason. Saudi electricity authorities were alerted and the issue was resolved.”
Although the issue was resolved, sufficient provision of other amenities still remains in question.
This year, Haj is expected to start on June 26 and will take place without COVID-19 restrictions, allowing a large number of pilgrims to participate.
