Musafir117
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700 Pakistani pilgrims, including a large number of women and children, are currently stranded in Iran after a travel agent failed to procure visas for the onward leg of their journey which would have taken them to Iraq.
Pilgrims, intending to travel to Karbala in Iraq to observe Ashura, had booked with the Karachi-based travel company Karavan of Pride.
The travel agency, located in Gulistan-e-Jauhar area of Karachi, had offered pilgrims a budget package to visit the holy sites in Iran and Iraq that would enable them to undertake the trip for just Rs60,000 which is nearly half the average fare.
The Express Tribune has learnt that the company received a flood of applications from people wishing to avail their discounted package. Out of a total of 1,100 applications, 700 would-be travellers were accepted by the company.
Hailing from Karachi and different parts of Sindh and Punjab, the pilgrims were flown phase-wise to Qom in Iran via Dubai from Karachi between the first and fifth of Muharram. After a brief stay there, the pilgrims were expecting to travel by road to Iraq.
However, security officials at the Iraqi border turned the pilgrims back because they did not have valid visas.
“We came to observe Ashura in Iraq, but we were denied entry to the country since we did not have visas,” narrated one of the stranded pilgrims in a video that is currently doing the rounds on social media. “The purpose of our visit thus remains unfulfilled.”
“We chose this travel agency, because it was offering a good package at cheap rates, but we had no idea what would happen to us,” a pilgrim lamented.
Abandoned abroad: 700 Pakistani pilgrims stuck in Iran - The Express Tribune
