Group of Indian Umrah pilgrims from Kuwait, who were stranded in the holy city of Makkah after losing their passports and documents, returned to Kuwait safely. The group which includes 43 Indians, five Egyptians, three Bangladeshis and one Pakistani were stranded in Makkah after they lost their passport.

According to one of the traveler, after arriving at their hotel in Makkah, the pilgrims handed over their passports to the hotel authorities, who reportedly put them in a bag. Later the pilgrims were informed by the tour operator that it had lost their passports. To their dismay, they were told to be prepared to travel to Jeddah to apply for new documents. After completing the long procedure the group returned to Kuwait yesterday. However 8 members of the group were unable to enter Kuwait as they only had exit passes and no passports. Agencies are taken steps to send them back to their country of origin.

After arriving at the kingdom on April 3 by bus from Kuwait, they had spent more than 20 traumatic days there waiting for new travel documents. The travel agency and Indian associations like OICC Jeddah and KMCC Makkah took painstaking efforts in sending us back to Kuwait, one of the group member told. He also praised Indian Embassy officials in Jeddah who worked relentlessly for the pilgrims to get their new passports and travel documents.