Six hundred and sixty-four Pakistani pilgrims, who were stranded for many hours in Iraq due to flight issues, returned safe and sound on Saturday, according to a spokesperson for the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). Media footages also reveal showed pilgrims arriving at Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport.
The spokesperson of CAA Saifullah told the media that an Iraqi Airways flight arrived with 358 pilgrims on early Saturday morning. Later, another flight from Iraq, which was supposed to land at Karachi at 2:20pm, landed at 5:20pm with 306 passengers on board, the CAA spokesperson added. Thus, a total of 664 pilgrims arrived on the two flights.
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The travellers had visited Iraq for Arbaeen, the Chehlum commemoration marking the 40th day of mourning for Imam Hussain, the grandson of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). More than 21 million devotees from across the world took part in the Arbaeen pilgrimage this year, which reached its peak on Sunday, with attendees displaying their support for Gaza.
Earlier, in a press release issued late on Friday night, the FO said Pakistani pilgrims were stranded at the Baghdad airport “because of technical fault with two aircraft of Iraq Airways”. “The return of these zaireen (pilgrims) is expected to start tonight,” the FO said, adding that it expected all stranded passengers to return by Aug 31.
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The affected travellers said they were not being informed about when or how they would be able to travel. “We have been sitting hungry and thirsty at the airport, and no one is addressing our concerns,” one pilgrim said. The FO claimed that the foreign and aviation ministries and Pakistan’s embassy in Iraq were in contact with Iraqi authorities and Iraq Airways for early repatriation of the stranded Pakistanis.
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