Omani national goes missing in Saudi Arabia

Muscat: An Omani national has gone missing in Saudi Arabia.
Speaking to the Times of Oman, Ibrahim Al Kharousi, working as the Omani Haj Attache in Saudi Arabia, said 51-year-old Abdullah Al Hattali has been missing for the last six days.
“We are trying to trace him as there are reports that he was seen yesterday also,” Al Kharousi said from Saudi Arabia.
In 2015 also, an Omani pilgrim named Anwar bin Salim Al Sinani had gone missing during the Haj stampede in Mecca. Later, his body was found and laid to rest in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Following the stampede, his family had continued to search for him in the hope that they would still find him alive. Al Sinani’s family had stayed in Mecca, verifying the bodies and looking for him among the injured.
This year, a total of 9,081 persons received text messages informing them that their Haj pilgrimage has been approved, even as more than half of the applications were rejected.
This number includes 5,787 males and 4,115 females.
The Minister of Awqaf and Religious Affairs announced that among the 18,587 applications for this year’s Haj, only 9,081 were approved.