Authorities say fire incident took place in departure lounge of airport, it was doused by CAA after some struggle
- There’s still some hindrance in flight operation due to fire.
- First Hajj flight halted, say sources.
- Hajj pilgrims’ immigration process resumed from domestic counter.
LAHORE: Immigration system of Allama Iqbal International Airport on Thursday caught fire due to a short circuit in the immigration counter’s ceiling, Geo News reported quoting airport authorities.
The authorities said the fire took place in the departure lounge of the airport and the blaze was doused by the Civil Aviation Authority staff after some struggle. However, there was still some hindrance in the flight operation and immigration process because of thick smoke.
Sources said the first Hajj flight scheduled to depart from Lahore was halted, while seven other international flights were also delayed due to the flight.
The authorities said the immigration process of the Hajj pilgrims was resumed from the domestic counter.
It should be noted that the Ministry of Religious Affairs had on May 3 announced that Pakistan would operate 11 special flights to transport 2,160 Hajj pilgrims to Saudi Arabia on the first day of the scheduled operation, including 670 passengers from Lahore via three flights, 330 from Karachi via two flights, 680 from Islamabad via three flights, 329 from Multan via two flights, 151 from Sialkot via a single flight.
The ministry spokesperson had stated that the month-long Hajj 2024 flight operation would commence from May 9 to June 9.
All flights scheduled for the first 15 days would land at the Madina airport, while most flights will land at the Jeddah airport from May 24 to June 9, the spokesperson had said.
Subsequently, the first Hajj flight from Balochistan would take off from Quetta on May 11, and from Sukkur on May 27.
Pakistan will operate a total of 259 Hajj special flights for over 68,000 pilgrims registered with the government scheme, the ministry had said, adding that the special operation would conclude on June 9.
Later, the country would resume its flight operation on June 20 to bring pilgrims home post-conclusion of the sacred pilgrimage, it concluded.
