First Hajj return flight delayed by 5 hours

According to Biman’s schedule, the first flight was supposed to reach Dhaka at 8:40pm but the flight was rescheduled to land at 1:30am early today, Biman said in a statement released in the evening. The flight was delayed as the Hajj pilgrims did not report on time at Jeddah airport, the statement said. Asking not be named, an official of Biman told the Dhaka Tribune that the Boeing 777-300 ER aircraft of the national carrier reached the Jeddah airport in time to bring the pilgrims back home but the pilgrims were late to arrive. The return Hajj flight will continue till October 16. The national flag carrier will operate 137 flights to bring back all the pilgrims to Bangladesh. Meanwhile, another four Bangladeshi Hajj pilgrims died yesterday taking the death toll to 51. All the four victims – two male and two females – died in Mecca, a Hajj bulletin of the Religious Affairs Ministry said. One of the four dead was identified as Md Shamsur Rahman, 74, from Jamalpur. Until now, of the dead Bangladeshis, 38 are male and 13 females. Thirty-seven of them died in Mecca, right in Medina, five in Mina and one in Jeddah between August 5 and September 16, the bulletin adds. As of yesterday, 23 Bangladeshi Hajj pilgrims are now hospitalised in Saudi Arabia for different health issues.