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Last batch of Hajj pilgrims flown out
Accra, Dec. 17, Ghanadot/GNA – The last batch of 520 Hajj
pilgrims left Accra at 1745 hours on Monday bringing the
total to 2,516 under a special dispensation Saudi Arabian
Authorities granted Ghanaians after Friday’s closure of
Jeddah Airport.
The pilgrims were flown out in six batches beginning on
Saturday morning.
The first flight picked 295 pilgrims, while 337 pilgrims
were on board the second.
Five hundred and twenty-nine Hajj pilgrims, forming the
third batch, left Accra at 1450 hours on Sunday for Jeddah
aboard a Boeing 747 aircraft that came from Saudi Arabia.
The fourth and fifth batches made up of 295 and 540
pilgrims, respectively, left on Sunday night with the sixth
batch of 520 pilgrims leaving on Monday. The extension
granted Ghanaians ends at midnight Monday.
It had earlier been expected that about 2,700 pilgrims would
make the trip but it turned out that some did not have valid
travel documents.
President John Agyekum Kufuor had to intervene to get the
Saudi Arabians to receive the Ghanaian pilgrims after the
Jeddah Airport was closed on Friday December 14, 2007.
Mr Andrew Awuni, Press Secretary to the President, said the
Government successfully secured an extension for Ghanaian
pilgrims to arrive in Saudi Arabia on December 17, 2007.
The Government on Thursday announced it was stepping in to
get stranded Ghanaian pilgrims airlifted to Saudi Arabia for
the Hajj, one of the most important pillars of Islam.
Mr Awuni said President Kufuor had ordered an investigation
to unravel the cause of the unfortunate situation that led
to the pilgrims becoming stranded in Accra.
Poor organisation of the Hajj has become an annual ritual in
the country.
GNA
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