ISLAMABAD: More than 42,000 Pakistani pilgrims have reached Makkah, Saudi Arabia to perform the annual Hajj pilgrimage since the start of a special flight operation on June 6, the Pakistani religion ministry said on Monday.
The first Hajj flight carrying Pakistani pilgrims departed from Islamabad on June 6. Pakistan has been allotted a quota of 81,132 pilgrims for this year’s Hajj, with 32,000 people using a government scheme and 48,000 traveling through private operators.
“A total of 42,477 [Pakistani] pilgrims have reached Makkah under the government and private schemes,” the Pakistani ministry of religious affairs said in a statement.
Around 16,900 Pakistani pilgrims directly reached Madinah under the government scheme from June 6 to June 16, where they stayed for eight days and were gradually transported to Makkah, according to the statement. Under the private scheme, 3,132 pilgrims reached Madinah, while another 9,239 reached Makkah via Jeddah.
“A total of 30,106 pilgrims are present in Makkah who traveled under the government scheme,” the ministry said.
The Hajj flight operation was ongoing and all pilgrims traveling under the government scheme would be flown to Saudi Arabia by June 30, it added.
