Saudi Arabian Airlines (SAA) is making intense preparations to transport 93,000 Iranian pilgrims - 28,000 more than last year - for this year’s Hajj, Okaz daily reported yesterday.
Dr Khaled Bin Bakr, SAA Director General said that the Airline transported over 187,500 Iranian pilgrims on 250 flights during the last Umrah season. Approximately 1.5 million pilgrims are expected to arrive from abroad to take part in this year’s Hajj, which is scheduled to begin on 9 February.
The Jiddah-based Pakistani Consul General, Taher Iqbal, expects 135,000 pilgrims from his country to perform Hajj this year. He told Okaz that the Saudi government had agreed to receive 10,000 more Pakistani pilgrims than last year, bringing the total to 135,000. He added that Islamabad would send 125 doctors and 125 nurses to provide health care for pilgrims. 1,000 ancillary staff will accompany the pilgrims to provide them with all necessary services during their stay.
Suleiman Merdad, Director General of Health Centres at the Health Ministry, said that his department would operate 104 health centres at the holy sites of Makkah, Mina, Arafat and Muzdalifa during the Hajj season. “We will deploy over 2,400 doctors and technicians to accommodate the pilgrims’ needs at the centres,” he told Al-Watan. He said that this year the Ministry would operate seven new health centres in Arafat, where pilgrims stay from morning until evening on 9 Du Al-Hijjah, at the climax of Hajj.
The Makkah Municipality will use 650 electric compactors and other equipment to dispose of rubbish, in a drive to ensure cleanliness during this Hajj season.
Source: SPA
