Return flight begins today, 645 pilgrims died in Saudi Arabia

The Hajj pilgrims will start returning home from today (June 20) after the formalities of this year’s Hajj in Saudi Arabia.

According to the Hajj management portal of the Ministry of Religious Affairs, Hajj return flights are set to begin today (Thursday) and end on July 22.

The first Biman Bangladesh flight bringing Hajj pilgrims home from Saudi Arabia has been scheduled to land at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka at 11:55pm on Thursday.

Bangladesh Airlines’ first dedicated flight BG 3301 departed for Saudi Arabia on May 9 with 415 pilgrims on board. The pilgrims started the official journey of this year’s Hajj through this flight.

According to the Hajj management portal, a total of 85,252 pilgrims went to Saudi Arabia for Hajj this year under public and private management. Among them, 4,562 people are in government management and 80,695 people are in private management. They reached Saudi Arabia by a total of 218 flights from Bangladesh.

According to the information given on the portal, 21 Bangladeshis died while performing Hajj this year. Among them 18 are male and three are female. Among them, 16 died in Mecca, four in Medina and one in Mina.

Meanwhile, at least 645 people have died during the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca amid scorching heat, a report from news agency AFP said quoting a diplomat, seeking anonymity.