7 Afghan pilgrims die during hajj performance

KABUL (Pajhwok): The Ministry of Hajj and Religious Affairs (MoHR) on Wednesday announced completing the process of sending Afghan pilgrims to Saudi Arabia for this year’s pilgrimage, saying so far seven Afghans have died during the performance of the rituals.

Administrative assistant at MoHR, Dayi-ul-Haq Abid, told to Pajhwok Afghan News that dispatching the pilgrims to Saudi Arabia had started on July 24 and ended on August 21.

Abid said about 30,000 Hajj pilgrims flew to the kingdom from across the 34 provinces of the country this year.

He said the intending pilgrims were airlifted by Aryana Afghan Airlines and Kam Air Airlines from four airports in Kabul, Herat, Kandahar, and Maza-i-Sharif.

However, seven of the Afghans died of natural death and two women gave birth to children during the sacred ritual.

According to him, the dead pilgrims, including six men and one woman, hailed from Balkh, Ghazni, Sar-i-Pul, Kunar and Takhar provinces.

Abid said the two women who gave birth to children were from Herat and Nangarhar provinces.

Flights taking back the pilgrims to Afghanistan would start from September 6, he concluded.

sns/ma