Five hundred and twenty-nine Hajj pilgrims, forming the third batch, left Accra at 1450 hours on Sunday for Jeddah aboard a Boeing 747 aircraft that came from Saudi Arabia.

This brings to 1,161 the total number of pilgrims that have so far been airlifted. The first flight picked 295, while 337 pilgrims were on board the second. About 2,700 pilgrims have registered to make the Hajj this year.

President John Agyekum Kufuor had to intervene to get the Saudi Arabians to receive the Ghanaian pilgrims after the Jeddah Airport was closed on Friday December 14, 2007.

Mr Andrew Awuni, Press Secretary to the President, said the Government had successfully secured an extension for Ghanaian pilgrims to arrive in Saudi Arabia on December 17, 2007, adding that it had also finalised arrangements for two planes to fly to Ghana to pick the pilgrims.

The Government on Thursday announced it was stepping in to get stranded Ghanaian pilgrims airlifted to Saudi Arabia for the Hajj, one of the most important pillars of Islam.

Mr Awuni said President Kufuor had ordered an investigation to unravel the cause of the unfortunate situation that led to the pilgrims becoming stranded in Accra.

Poor organisation of the Hajj has become an annual ritual in the country.

Source: GNA