SEPANG: Over 100 Malaysian and Indonesian umrah pilgrims are stranded at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) following Saudi Arabia’s decision on Thursday to suspend the entry of foreign nationals as part of efforts to curb the spread of Covid-19.
A pilgrim from Kedah, Mohd Fadzil Osman, 49, said he and 39 other pilgrims from Sungai Petani and Alor Star were due to depart on Saudi Airlines at 4.40pm on Thursday.
He and his wife, Norharisah Harun, 47, who are first-time umrah pilgrims, said they only learned of the Saudi government’s decision at 9am.
“At that time, we were informed that the decision had not been finalised, so we waited. But it was only after 1pm that it was confirmed that we could not fly.
“Some of us had already checked in for the flight,” he said here last night.
Another pilgrim, Rohani Abdul Rahman, 57, is hoping that the Covid-19 outbreak will end as soon as possible.
“It took us six months to make our preparations. We did not expect the trip to be cancelled at the eleventh hour. It is sad, but we accept it,” she said.
Indonesian pilgrim Muhammad Jamil Arfah, 28, said he and 23 other pilgrims arrived at KLIA from Makassar at 3pm to transit before boarding a flight to Saudi Arabia.
“Our flight was supposed to be at 9pm (on Thursday), but it was cancelled. We are currently waiting for a decision on whether to return (to Makassar) or whether we can still fly to Saudi Arabia,” he said.
Saudi Arabia had announced a temporary suspension of umrah visas as a proactive, precautionary measure to curb the spread of the Covid-19 outbreak.
The Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported that the government of Saudi Arabia had also temporarily suspended the entry of visitors from countries affected by coronavirus.
In a statement today, Wisma Putra advised Malaysians to delay their travel to Saudi Arabia for pilgrimage and tourism. – BERNAMA