The last of Maldives pilgrims have departed to Saudi Arabia on Saturday after they were left stranded in the capital ahead of start of the pilgrimage on Monday.
The remaining 379 pilgrims under the extra 1,000 quota provided by the Saudi government who feared missing out on the pilgrimage this year departed around 5.30pm on Saturday.
The Saudi government officially allocates 1,000 pilgrims from the Maldives every year. However, under a special allowance by the Saudi King, Maldives has been receiving an additional 1,000 slots for the past three years which had been allocated to state-run Hajj Corporation.
Hajj Corporation managing director Idrees Ismail explained that the additional 1,000 slots had been arranged relatively late. He said the delay was down to the difficulty on getting slot for the flight to the already swamped Jeddah airport.
