Indonesian pilgrim dies on Hajj-bound flight

Cairo: An Indonesian woman had died aboard a plane heading to Saudi Arabia where she was to perform the Hajj pilgrimage, according to reports.

The woman was boarding a flight that had departed from Indonesia to the Saudi city of Medina, as a member of a group of Indonesian pilgrims, when she passed away. The cause of death was not given. 

A video showed the passengers aboard the plane reacting to the incident as some people tried to comfort a man, who appeared to be a relative of the woman. Her body appeared lying and covered aboard the aircraft before landing.

The woman had breathed her last before the plane reached Saudi Arabia, according to reports that said she was later buried in Medina, home to Islam's second holiest mosque.

The first flights carrying Indonesian pilgrims started late last month in the run-up to the Hajj rites due early next month. 

They landed at the Prince Abdulaziz bin Mohammed International Airport in Medina.

The Hajj flights from Indonesia are scheduled to continue until May 16.

Around 221,000 pilgrims from Indonesia, the world’s biggest Muslim-majority nation, are anticipated to perform the Hajj this year.

Pilgrims flying from Indonesia benefit from a Saudi scheme offering Hajj-linked facilities, known as the "Mecca Route" Initiative. 

Besides Indonesia, the “Mecca Route” benefits pilgrims from Malaysia, Pakistan, Morocco, Bangladesh, Turkey and Cote d’Ivoire at 11 airports in the beneficiary countries.

The initiative aims to provide fast-track services to the pilgrims from these countries by finalizing their procedures in the homeland smoothly, starting with taking their biometrics and issuing Hajj visas electronically, through completing passport measures, after verifying all health requirements are met.

Other facilities include tagging and sorting out luggage at the departure airports.

On arrival in Saudi Arabia, those pilgrims head directly to their residences in the holy cities of Mecca and Medina on buses moving on designated routes while their luggage are delivered right to their residences.