AROUND 300 Bahraini pilgrims stranded in Iran will return in the coming days after spending almost two weeks in hotels in Mashhad, it has been learnt.
They have been stuck in the Islamic Republic after Bahrain imposed travel restrictions to and from Iran as a preventive measure to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus (Covid-19).
These people belong to groups operated by leading religious tour agents in the kingdom.
The first set of 160 people belonging to Al Mujtaba Tours are scheduled to return today on Oman Air, while another 150 from Al Bayan Tours will fly back on Thursday, the GDN learnt.
According to Health Ministry’s webpage dedicated to Covid-19, there have been no local cases (community) registered within Bahrain and there are 95 active cases of which only one is critical.
Of the active cases 90 are those who arrived from abroad, and the rest contacted those who arrived from abroad.
A total of 7,784 people have been tested with 7,689 testing negative.
However, some tour operators have expressed concerns about the priority of the list of returnees, claiming that many elderly and children who are lacking medication did not feature in the early lot to return.
“We are aware that 160 people are arriving on Oman Air tomorrow but they belong to a different tour operator and not ours,” said a representative from Dairy Travels.
“We have repeatedly asked the Health Ministry to help us as we have many elderly men and women, children and even infants – a total of 75 – in a hotel in Mashhad.
“The age of the elderly range between 50 and 70, most of them are short of their medicines and they are calling us every day.
“We have given the full list of our people to the ministry and their CPRs have been verified and we are waiting for the ministry to respond.”
He added that there were around 1,600 Bahrainis in various cities in Iran including Tehran, while 1,300 of them are in Mashhad.
The group, one of the largest tour operators in Bahrain, had earlier confirmed it has 70 people in the Iranian city, who were supposed to fly back on February 25 via SalamAir.
Tour representatives also said that negotiations are underway with SalamAir as well on adding more flights in the coming days.
Another major tour operator, Al Masooma Religious Tourism, who earlier said that they had a group of 224 people in Mashhad waiting to return home, also echoed similar concerns.
“We know that 160 people are returning from Iran tomorrow, but none from Al Masooma,” said a representative.
“All our people are in Mashhad and we still don’t know if they’re getting back on SalamAir, Oman Air or Fly Baghdad.
“The passengers vary from young children to old people, some of them have chronic diseases and they are lacking medication.”
Pilgrims carried by Al Bayan Tours, which has a group of 230 people in Mashhad, is not on today’s list, it has emerged.
“Our first flight as of now is on Thursday with 150 people on board,” said a representative.
“Most of the people are elderly and are lacking medication.”
Meanwhile, 50 people from Dairy Travels who were in Iraq have returned to Bahrain, including 25 who arrived last night.
They were all taken to the quarantine facility in Hidd, said the tour agent.
“We brought them to Dubai via Fly Dubai and the first set of 25 returned to Bahrain last week with the rest arriving last night via Gulf Air,” said a representative.
“All of them were taken to the quarantine facility in Hidd.
“We don’t know yet if any have tested (Covid-19) positive.”
Apparently, they flew on Gulf Air, which reportedly operates one flight daily from Dubai, arriving in Bahrain at 10.30pm.
Informed sources confirmed to the GDN that Gulf Air and Emirates operate one flight each daily to Bahrain, while all other services remain cancelled.
raji@gdn.com.bh
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