Over 63,000 Pak pilgrims reach Saudi Arabia

ISLAMABAD: Over 63,000 intending Pakistani pilgrims have arrived in Makkah and Madina while another 3,622 will be reaching Saudi Arabia by wee hours of Friday.

The spokesman of the Ministry of Religious Affairs on Thursday said that 45,565 Pakistanis under the regular Haj scheme and 18,186 under the private scheme have reached two Holy cities.

Around 8,000 intending Pakistani pilgrims have also performed Umra after their arrival in Makkah from Madina. The spokesman said that three Pakistanis have died of natural death. He said that monitoring of 126 private Haj organisers has also been completed.