Last batch of Haj pilgrims leaves city

VARANASI: The last batch of 261 Medina-bound Haj pilgrims left the city on Wednesday. The flight for Haj started from Varanasi on August 18.
As per the schedule of Haj pilgrims departure till Wednesday, a total of 213 pilgrims had to leave for Medina on the last day. But, the number exceeded to 261 because 48 pilgrims, who had to board the flight earlier on Tuesday, were stopped at Lal Bahadur Shastri airport as the plane reached here to take them was of low capacity.According to media in-charge of Haj Committee, Junaid Ali Khan, due to some technical snag, a plane of limited capacity was sent to Babatpur airport. “The flight carrying 201 pilgrims left for Medina in Saudi Arabia earlier on Tuesday while the remaining 46 passengers were accommodated at a hotel in Cantonment area as two passengers left for their homes at night,” he said.
Around 3900 Haj pilgrims from different districts departed from Varanasi in 16 days, he added. According to Khan, most of the Haj pilgrims who boarded the flight on Wednesday hailed from Allahabad, Azamgarh and Chandauli and Mirzapur. Other pilgrims from Devariya, Gorakhpur, Jaunpur, Kaushambi, Maharajganj, Mau and Bhadohi were also in the last batch.