42 Pakistani Haj Pilgrims Dies in the Ongoing Haj Pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia

42 Pakistani Haj pilgrims have died in the ongoing Haj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia and the reasons for the death of the pilgrims have been states as various causes. Officials from the Pakistani Ministry of Religious Affairs and Inter-faith Harmony have released the official statement of the pilgrim’s death.

As per the statement of the officials, of the 42 dead pilgrims, 30 are male and 12 female. To be accurate about the reasons for their death, it is said that most of the pilgrims died of suffocation or in road accidents. The dead pilgrims were in their early 40s and late 80s. 25 of the dead pilgrims died in Makkah, 7 in Madina, 5 in Mina, and 4 in Arafat.

This year, 184,210 Pakistani pilgrims had gone for Haj pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia this year that is being sent under government and private programmes. The dead pilgrims this year belonged to different cities of Pakistan which include Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Peshawar, DG Khan, Hyderabad, Karachi, Kohat, Faisalabad, Attock, Khairpur, Malakand, and Kasur. The deceased pilgrims were buried in Sharaya, Jannatul Baqi, and Arafat graveyards.

Such incidents of death in Haj pilgrimage is not new this year as last year as well, 108 Pakistani pilgrims had died during Hajj. This shows a decline of 80% in deaths this year.

The pilgrims who have completed their Haj pilgrim are set to return and are scheduled to be back on August 27 which will continue till September 25. The first flight carrying the post-Hajj pilgrims will consist of around 327 pilgrims and will land at the Islamabad International Airport on Monday evening. As per schedule, four flights will carry over 900 Pakistani pilgrims to Islamabad and Peshawar on August 27.