1 Haji dies, 17 injured in Madina road crash

A Bangladeshi female hajj pilgrim died and 17 others were injured in a road accident in Madina, Saudi Arabia on Friday night.

A bus carrying 35 Bangladeshi pilgrims lost control in Wadi Al Farah area around 11:30pm (local time) while it was going to Madina from Makkah, Muhammad Maqsudur Rahman, councilor [hajj] to the Bangladesh Hajj office in Makkah, told The Daily Star over telephone.

Name of the deceased could not be known immediately. 

Seven hajis with severe injuries were admitted to King Fahad Hospital at Madina, said Maqsudur.

RETURN HAJJ FLIGHTS BEGIN

The maiden return hajj flight arrived at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka yesterday.

Flight SV-808 of Saudi Arabian Airlines landed at the airport with 335  hajis at 1:30pm Bangladesh time, said Tasnim Akhter, manager (public  relations) of Biman Bangladesh Airlines.

Talking to the media, several  hajis expressed satisfaction over the overall hajj management by the private hajj tour operators.

Two return hajj flights of Biman Bangladesh Airlines and Saudi Arabian Airlines were scheduled to land in Dhaka last night, she said.

A total of 126,701 hajj aspirants from Bangladesh performed hajj this year.

Secretary to the Religious Affairs Ministry Anisur Rahman, before going to Saudi Arabia on August 5, had told The Daily Star that the overall hajj flight operation  was smooth this year compared to recent past years.

For the first time this year, pre-arrival immigration of half of the total hajj aspirants were completed in Dhaka.

Biman will operate 176 post-hajj  flights --147 dedicated and 29 scheduled flights from August 17 to  September 15 -- to carry around half of the total hajis to Dhaka from Saudi  Arabia.

Saudi Arabian Airlines will carry the rest of the hajis to Dhaka, sources said.