QUETTA: More than 2,700 Pakistani pilgrims in the southwestern city of Quetta have completed training to undertake the annual pilgrimage that is expected in June, with officials voicing on Thursday their satisfaction over the arrangements made by Saudi authorities.
Nearly 89,000 Pakistani pilgrims are expected to travel to Saudi Arabia under the government scheme and another 23,620 Pakistanis will perform the pilgrimage through private tour operators. The total quota granted to Pakistan was 179,210, which could not be met.
Each pilgrim in Pakistan’s Balochistan province has attended two training sessions at Hajji Camp in Quetta, where they have also been facilitated with passports, visas and tickets for their travel to Saudi Arabia.
“Everything is running smoothly here because our instructors and the staff are fully cooperating with the pilgrims,” said Muhammad Jan, a 62-year-old resident of Balochistan’s Naseerabad district who will be performing Hajj under the government scheme for the first time.
Jan, who completed his two training sessions in February and April, was visiting Hajji Camp in Quetta to collect his travel documents.
“There are hundreds of thousands of people [at Hajj each year], so if there are some minor shortcomings, then I think [it’s not a big deal],” he told Arab News.
“But from what we have heard, their [Saudi government] management is very good, they are facilitating [pilgrims] very well.”
This year, only 2,779 pilgrims from 34 districts across Pakistan’s sparsely populated Balochistan province will travel to Saudi Arabia.
“We have thoroughly guided our Hajj pilgrims about traveling guidelines, Hajj rules set by the Saudi government and the Hajj rituals,” a senior official at the Hajji Camp, who was not authorized to speak to media, told Arab News.
“We are satisfied with the Hajj arrangements by the Saudi government and there is a colossal coordination between the Pakistan and Saudi governments regarding the Hajj pilgrimage.”
Abdul Hadi, who also came to collect his documents from the Pishin district, urged authorities to expedite the process as some pilgrims had to wait “for hours.”
“They should have set up all documents with numbers so the pilgrims could get their documents in sequence by standing in queues. Now we have to wait for our names, that is a time-consuming procedure,” the 65-year-old said.
“When [Pakistani] pilgrims go to Saudi Arabia, they must keep in view our country’s reputation and protect it. They must not do anything there that may disgrace our country.”
Faizullah Abid, a volunteer at Hajji Camp, said they had regularly been handing over passports, visas and tickets to pilgrims.
“If any pilgrim does not wish to go back home [before departure for Hajj], then they are being provided accommodation and food here, then the Ministry of Religious Affairs will transport them to airport in their vehicles,” he added.
Pakistan launched its Hajj flight operation on April 29 which will continue till May 31. Pilgrims will continue to leave for Madinah during the first 15 days of the operation and afterwards, they will land in Jeddah and travel directly to Makkah.
Over 2,700 pilgrims complete training in Pakistan’s southwest to undertake Hajj journey
https://arab.news/8vmve
Over 2,700 pilgrims complete training in Pakistan’s southwest to undertake Hajj journey
- Each of the devotees has attended two sessions to have better understanding of the Hajj rituals
- Officials say supporting the devotees with everything, including accommodation, visas and tickets
Sindh government announces compensation as 15 killed, 65 missing after Karachi mall blaze
- 15 confirmed dead include firefighter, $36,000 per victim pledged as search continues
- Traders seek urgent rehabilitation after 1,200 shops destroyed in Saddar building inferno
ISLAMABAD: The Sindh provincial government on Monday announced compensation for victims of a deadly fire at a major shopping plaza in Karachi, saying 15 people were confirmed dead while 65 were reported missing as recovery operations continued at the site.
The blaze broke out late Saturday at Gul Plaza in Karachi’s Saddar business district and spread rapidly through multiple floors, trapping shoppers and workers inside the densely packed building. 15 deaths have been confirmed so far, including a firefighter, while debris removal and search operations remain underway, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah told reporters on Monday afternoon.
Deadly fires in commercial buildings are a recurring problem in Karachi, a city of more than 20 million people, where overcrowding, outdated infrastructure and weak enforcement of fire safety regulations have repeatedly resulted in mass casualties and heavy economic losses.
Announcing relief measures, Shah said the provincial government would provide Rs10 million ($36,000) in compensation to the family of each person killed in the fire, which destroyed over 1,200 shops in the plaza.
“On behalf of the government of Sindh, we will give one crore rupees to every person who has lost his life,” Shah said at a press conference, adding that payments would begin once documentation was completed.
Shah said one of the15 victims was a firefighter he identified by his first name, Furqan, who died while battling the blaze, noting that Furqan’s father had also been killed in the line of duty years earlier. Shah said the Karachi mayor had been directed to ensure care for the firefighter’s family.
The chief minister also announced the formation of a joint committee involving provincial officials and the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) to assess losses and oversee rehabilitation of affected traders. He said temporary arrangements were being explored to relocate 1,000 to 1,200 shops so businesses could resume operations as quickly as possible.
Citing past precedents such as the Bolton Market arson and Cooperative Market fire, Shah said similar compensation and recovery mechanisms had helped traders rebuild their livelihoods and would guide the current response.
Karachi has previously suffered devastating commercial fires that prompted large-scale compensation and rehabilitation efforts.
In 2009, a massive arson attack at Bolton Market, one of the city’s oldest wholesale hubs, destroyed hundreds of shops and disrupted supply chains across the city. The federal and Sindh governments later approved special relief packages that funded compensation, reconstruction and the rebuilding of fire-hit markets. More recently, fires at the Cooperative Market and Victoria Building areas again wiped out clusters of small traders, leading authorities to reuse leftover funds from earlier relief schemes to compensate affected businesses. Officials say these precedents have shaped the province’s current approach to combining government support with trader-led assessments to restore livelihoods after major disasters.
KCCI said on Sunday preliminary assessments showed more than 1,000 small and medium-sized businesses were completely destroyed in the latest fire, leaving thousands of families without incomes. Traders have urged both provincial and federal authorities to announce a comprehensive rehabilitation package.
Authorities have ordered a formal inquiry into the incident, with Shah stressing that the investigation would focus on identifying systemic failures rather than assigning blame.
He said a fire safety audit covering 145 buildings, conducted in 2024, would now be enforced immediately, alongside mandatory installation of fire alarms in commercial markets across the city.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has also offered full federal support, calling for a “coordinated and effective system” to control fires quickly in densely populated urban areas and prevent similar tragedies in the future.
Battling large fires in Karachi’s congested commercial districts remains notoriously difficult. Many markets and plazas are built with narrow access points, encroachments and illegal extensions that block fire tenders, while buildings often lack functioning fire exits, alarms or sprinkler systems.
Although safety regulations exist, inspections are sporadic and penalties rarely enforced, allowing hazardous wiring and flammable materials to go unchecked — conditions that enable fires to spread rapidly and magnify human and economic losses.
