Last batch of govt hajjis return home
Monday, 28 December 2009
FE Report
Last batch of 8,209 pilgrims who went to perform the holy hajj under the government arrangement returned home Sunday.
By Sunday evening, over 52,000 Bangladeshi pilgrims returned home safely from Saudi Arabia, hajj officials told the FE, adding that a total of 58,094 Bangladeshi pilgrims performed hajj this year.
Besides the government arrangement, 50,785 Bangladeshi pilgrims went to perform the largest religious ritual of the Muslims. They are expected to return by January 2, 2010 as per schedule, a hajj office source said.
So far, total 60 hajjis died during their stay in Saudi Arabia, mainly due to old-age complications.
"We have received very nominal number of complaints from the pilgrims," hajj official Abdul Malek said. He also claimed of taking immediate measures against every individual complaint at home as well as in Saudi Arabia.
"Other than few cases of flights delay, hajj operation this year was smooth and almost hassle-free," he added.
Out of the total number of pilgrims, state-run Biman Bangladesh Airlines ferried 32,184 by operating 86 hajj flights including 54 dedicated hajj flights. The first hajj flight was inaugurated on October 21 and the hajj operation ended on November 21.
Biman resumed hajj operation again on December 2 to bring the Hajjis back to Bangladesh. It hired three Boeing 747 aircraft from Bangkok-based Orient Thai and Nigerian Kabo Airways to ensure swift hajj operation this year.
Biman's scheduled DC-10 flights on Dhaka-Jeddah-Dhaka also carried pilgrims, while private hajj operators largely rely on Saudi Arabian Airlines to carry their clients.
Last batch of 8,209 pilgrims who went to perform the holy hajj under the government arrangement returned home Sunday.
By Sunday evening, over 52,000 Bangladeshi pilgrims returned home safely from Saudi Arabia, hajj officials told the FE, adding that a total of 58,094 Bangladeshi pilgrims performed hajj this year.
Besides the government arrangement, 50,785 Bangladeshi pilgrims went to perform the largest religious ritual of the Muslims. They are expected to return by January 2, 2010 as per schedule, a hajj office source said.
So far, total 60 hajjis died during their stay in Saudi Arabia, mainly due to old-age complications.
"We have received very nominal number of complaints from the pilgrims," hajj official Abdul Malek said. He also claimed of taking immediate measures against every individual complaint at home as well as in Saudi Arabia.
"Other than few cases of flights delay, hajj operation this year was smooth and almost hassle-free," he added.
Out of the total number of pilgrims, state-run Biman Bangladesh Airlines ferried 32,184 by operating 86 hajj flights including 54 dedicated hajj flights. The first hajj flight was inaugurated on October 21 and the hajj operation ended on November 21.
Biman resumed hajj operation again on December 2 to bring the Hajjis back to Bangladesh. It hired three Boeing 747 aircraft from Bangkok-based Orient Thai and Nigerian Kabo Airways to ensure swift hajj operation this year.
Biman's scheduled DC-10 flights on Dhaka-Jeddah-Dhaka also carried pilgrims, while private hajj operators largely rely on Saudi Arabian Airlines to carry their clients.