http://www.ansamed.info/en/news/ME.XEF34363.html
ISLAM: ALGERIA, PILGRIMAGE TO MECCA TURNS INTO NIGHTMARE (ANSAmed) - ALGIERS, NOVEMBER 24 - The pilgrimage to Mecca this year has turned into a nightmare for many Algerian worshippers. According to the latest statement from the National Office of the Hadj, 23 Algerians have died and 1,356 are missing. "Most died from natural causes. The average age is between 70 and 80, except two people aged 48," said the heads of the Great Pilgrimage, without giving any further details about the causes of the other deaths. They include 16 men and 8 women, with five resident in France and 18 from different regions of the north African country. Out of the 36,000 Algerian pilgrims present at the holy sites, 1,356 are said to be missing: 968 in Mecca and 388 in Medina. "The hospitality was terrible," declared the first worshippers returning yesterday from Saudi Arabia. "The accommodation was catastrophic," said Naghmouche, quoted by El Watan, underlining that the organisers "had abandoned the worshippers." "All the delegations," reported another pilgrim, "were well organised. The Tunisians, the Moroccans, the Indonesians. We slept in the street surrounded by rubbish." (ANSAmed). [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ Post message: [email protected] Subscribe : [email protected] Unsubscribe : [email protected] List owner : [email protected] Homepage : http://proletar.8m.com/Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
