RIYADH, 16 April 2007 — Over 170 Sri Lankan Umrah pilgrims, who were stranded at King Khaled International Airport, were flown to Jeddah aboard three separate flights early yesterday after a tiring eight-hour delay in transit. Around 80 passengers were ferried in the first flight that was diverted from Qasim. The remaining 90 pilgrims were ferried in subsequent flights.
The ordeal began when the pilgrims from Colombo, who arrived here at 2.45 p.m. on Sunday on Saudi Arabian flight SV783, missed their connecting flight to Jeddah at 4.45 p.m. due to delays in completing immigration and custom formalities.
The stranded passengers were left distraught when immigration officials retained their passports and asked them to bring new boarding passes from the airline desk at the domestic terminal.
Amanullah Muhammad Shabir, a purchasing officer at a five-star hotel in Riyadh who happened to be at the airport terminal at the time, told Arab News that most of the pilgrims were elderly and accompanied by women and children.
“They didn’t know what to do next since they didn’t expect to come out of the international terminal with a problem of this type,” he said, adding that the pilgrims had been told by their agents in Colombo that they would be in transit in Riyadh for only an hour while waiting for their connection flight to Jeddah.
Muhammad Haniffa, a Colombo businessman who was part of the Sri Lankan group, told Arab News that airline personnel accommodated around 100 of the 270 Jeddah-bound passengers in flights where seats were available.
“I know it was difficult to accommodate such a large number of passengers in scheduled flights to Jeddah,” he said, but added that the ground staff at Riyadh airport did not have the courtesy to keep the passengers informed of the developments.
“We were at a loss and we were without a glass of water for more than four hours,” he said, adding that an airline official only spoke to the stranded group after five hours of waiting.
Muhammad Mansour, who had come with his wife, daughter and daughter-in-law, told Arab News that being a frequent traveler he understands the difficulties in such situations. He added that after six hours of waiting the airline provided them with refreshments, which indicated their concern for the passengers.
Speaking to Arab News from Colombo, an airline official said that this was an unexpected incident and that it had made alternate arrangements only when Arab News brought the matter to their attention. There was no one available for comment when Arab News contacted Saudia officials in the Kingdom. Meanwhile, another group of 275 pilgrims left Colombo for Jeddah aboard a Saudi Arabian flight at 2.45 p.m. yesterday.
Beginning April 7, the Saudi Embassy in Colombo issued more than 2,000 Umrah visas. The New Year holidays in the island have enabled a large number of Muslims from the private and public sectors to come for the pilgrimage at this time of the year.
Seven percent of the island’s 19.8 million population are Muslim. The state does not impose restrictions on pilgrimage.
