Late Friday night, a Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) Hajj flight made an emergency landing at Riyadh International Airport in Saudi Arabia after an “explosion” was heard on board.
Following a thorough inspection, PIA flight PK-839 was allowed to continue to Jeddah on Saturday morning.
The flight departed from Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport at 10 PM on Friday and was diverted to Riyadh for an emergency landing after a blast was heard on board.
After the emergency landing at Riyadh Airport, passengers were offloaded from the Boeing 777 and moved to the lounge. A PIA spokesperson explained that the pilot decided to land in Riyadh due to a high-temperature warning in the cargo cabin.
Upon inspection, it was discovered that the warning was false. After a brief check, the flight proceeded to Jeddah.
Pakistani Hajj pilgrims are still arriving in Saudi Arabia. As of now, 41,477 pilgrims have reached Madinah, and another 28,628 are expected to arrive in the next 10 days.
The Pakistan Hajj Mission will be accommodating 70,105 pilgrims under government schemes and 80,000 under private schemes.
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