PIA Hajj flight makes emergency landing

KARACHI: A Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) Hajj flight, PK 839, made an emergency landing in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia late Friday, ARY News reported.

Sources said that the Hajj flight took off at 10pm Saturday from the Jinnah International Airport in Karachi for Jeddah. But it was diverted to Riyadh for an emergency landing.

Following the emergency landing, passengers were offloaded from the plane and shifted to the lounge at the Riyadh airport.

After inspection, the flight was departed to Jeddah.

Meanwhile, 41,477 intending pilgrims have arrived in Madinah Munawwarah under government and private Hajj schemes.

In the next 10 days, 28,628 more pilgrims will reach Madinah to perform Hajj, the spokesperson said and added that the Pakistan Hajj Mission will host 70,105 pilgrims under government and 80,000 under private schemes.

Read more: Saudi Arabia gears up to receive over 2mln Hajj pilgrims

From the airport, the passengers were transported to residential buildings located in Markazia, just a 15-20 minute walk from Masjid e Nabvi and Roza-e-Rasool (SAW), via luxurious buses.