Six centenarians on Haj, Natwar calls up consul

The oldest among the six is 111-year-old Fatima Begum of Hyderabad. She and the other woman among the centenarians, 100-year-old Kitabunissa, performed Umra a few days ago and are eager to go for the Haj.

Two other are from Jammu and Kashmir and Uttar Pradesh. The sixth, Hasan Khan, is from Gujarat.

Following the Foreign Minister’s call, the Jeddah consulate has lined up a team of medical specialist for the centenarians.

Thought the Indian consul has set up two 20-bedded hospitals, one each in the twin cities of Mecca and Medina, 13 dispensaries with round-the clock mobile teams have been made available for the 1.27 lakh pilgrims from India.

‘‘Twenty-eight per cent of our pilgrims are above sixty, enough reason for our doctors to be on their toe s. The Haj is a rigorous exercise that entails lot of exertion while performing rituals. Many people cannot take this exertion,” he said. In the last three weeks, 32 Indian pilgrims have died mainly of cardiac arrest and pulmonary infections. Two more died in road accidents.