A Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) Hajj flight has made an emergency landing at Riyadh International Airport in Saudi Arabia late Friday night after an “explosion” on board was heard, reported 24NewsHD TV channel on Saturday.

After a thorough inspection, the PIA flight PK-839, however, was allowed to resume its journey to Jeddah on Saturday morning.

The PIA Hajj flight took off at 10pm yesterday from the Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport for Jeddah, but it was diverted to Riyadh for an emergency landing after a blast was heard during the flight.

Following the emergency landing at Riyadh Airport, the passengers were offloaded from the Boeing 777 plane and shifted to the lounge.

A PIA spokesperson said the pilot received a high temperature warning in the cargo cabin during the flight after which the landing was made in the Saudi capital. However, after testing the aircraft, it was found out that the warning was false and the flight departed to Jeddah following a quick check.

Meanwhile, Pakistani Hajj pilgrims continued to arrive in Saudi Arabia. So far, 41,477 pilgrims have already reached Madinah and in the next 10 days, an additional 28,628 pilgrims are expected to arrive in Madinah.

Pakistan Hajj Mission will be hosting 70,105 pilgrims under government schemes and 80,000 under private schemes.

 

Reporter Aqsa Shahid