358 stranded Pakistani pilgrims arrive from Iraq, more to follow: CAA

Three hundred and Fifty-eight Pakistani pilgrims who were earlier stranded in Iraq due to flight issues returned to the country on Saturday with more to follow, according to a spokesperson for the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

The Foreign Office (FO) said the pilgrims were expected to return to Pakistan today.

Media footage showed pilgrims arriving at Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport. CAA spokesperson Saifullah told Dawn.com that an Iraqi Airways flight arrived around 6am with 358 pilgrims with another scheduled for 5:25pm.

Pakistani pilgrims had visited Iraq to attend the Chelum commemoration — also known as Arbaeen — which marks the 40th day of mourning for Imam Husain, the grandson of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

More than 21 million devotees took part in the Arbaeen pilgrimage in Iraq this year, which reached its peak on Sunday with attendees displaying their support for Gaza.

In a press release issued late on Friday night, the FO said 654 Pakistani pilgrims were stranded at the Baghdad airport “because of technical fault with two aircrafts of Iraq Airways”.

“The return of these zaireen (pilgrims) is expected to start tonight,” the FO said, adding that it expected all stranded passengers to return by August 31.

According to the FO, the first of the two flights was expected to take off from Baghdad at 10pm Iraq time (12am Pakistan time).

It added that the foreign and aviation ministries and Pakistan’s Embassy in Iraq were in contact with Iraqi authorities and Iraq Airways for early repatriation of the stranded Pakistanis.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar has directed Pakistan’s Ambassador in Baghdad Hamid Abbas Lafta to “look after the stranded Pakistanis and to facilitate their early return, the FO said.

“The embassy has provided meals and facilitated their temporary stay in Baghdad,” the press release added.

Buses carrying Pakistani pilgrims have seen multiple accidents in Iran and Pakistan in the past weeks, resulting in at least 42 deaths.

At least three were killed and 48 injured in a bus-truck collision near Iran’s Neyriz city on Sunday night, days after another crash in Yazd city killed 28 people and wounded 23.

A bus accident on Pakistan’s Makran coastal highway on Sunday had also claimed the lives of at least 11 people and injured 35.