Tabung Haji to prepare detailed report before meeting Saudi government

Tabung Haji (TH) will prepare a detailed account of the Haj pilgrims who were killed and injured in the Makkah crane tragedy on Sept 11, before holding talks on compensation with the Saudi government.

Its chairman Datuk Seri Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim said the report would facilitate discussions between TH and the Saudi government with regard to the mode of payment to be channeled to the injured victims and next-of-kin of those who died.

"We will gather all information to be included in the report. Our minister will discuss with the Saudi Arabian ministers and we (TH) will discuss with our counter-parts in Saudi Arabia where we will present file by file, as some of the Malaysian victims were not listed.

"All these need to be fine-tuned and given the good rapport established between our leadership, Datuk Seri Mohd Najib Razak, King Salman and the Saudi Arabian government, I am confident the discussions will go down well," he told reporters, Wednesday.

Abdul Azeez said that he, together with the minister in the Prime Minister's Department, Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom and TH chief executive officer, Tan Sri Ismee Ismail would arrange for a meeting with the authorities concerned in Saudi Arabia to find out on the method of payment and the actual amount to be given to the victims and their next-of-kin.

Abdul Azeez said he would leave for Saudi Arabia soon after all Malaysian pilgrims have returned home as the last Haj flight home would be on Oct 28.

He added that initially the Saudi Arabian government had announced compensation of Saudi Riyal (SR) 1 million (RM1.3 million) to be paid to each victim's family and SR500,000 (RM650,000) for each of the injured pilgrims.

Earlier, Abdul Azeez visited Zainul Arifin Zulkifli, 36, who is one of the 11 injured victims at Taman Batu Muda here. Zainul Arifin fractured his right leg and suffered a slip disc in the crane crash incident.

Abdul Azeez and TH officials had also visited families of 46 Malaysian pilgrims who died while performing their pilgrimage including seven who were killed in the crane collapse tragedy at the Grand Mosque and one who died in the stampede in Mina.