CAIRO: A total of 3,000 Egyptian pilgrims will fly back to Cairo on board 12 EgyptAir flights Saturday after completing the Hajj, the holding company chairperson Sherif Fathy said.
Ten flights will come from Saudi Jeddah and two others from Medina, he added in remarks to the media.
The total number of Egyptian pilgrims performed the 2015 Hajj reached 62,479, said the executive head of the Egyptian Hajj Mission Sunday. Saudi authorities announced that the total number of the pilgrims this year reached more than 2 million persons, AP reported Tuesday.
Hajj season will end Sunday after the pilgrims performed three-day “stoning of the devil” in Mina near Mecca, a ritual taken from Prophet Ibrahim, who Muslims believe threw stones at the devil, who suggested he disobey divine orders.
En route to the stoning ritual this year, more than 700 pilgrims died and more than 800 others were injured Thursday in a stampede. A total of 14 Egyptians died and 31 nationals were injured in the stampede, Egypt’s Endowments Minister Mokhtar Gomaa announced Friday.
Thirty-four Egyptian pilgrims died in Mecca during the entire pilgrimage; 20 of them died due to health issues unrelated to the stampede.