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The second batch of 148 Sierra Leonean diaspora Hajj pilgrims from Guinea landed safely at Prince Mohammad Bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Madinah on Monday evening for the 2026 Hajj, joining the first batch of 150 pilgrims who arrived on Saturday.
The 148 pilgrims have been accommodated at the Triple One Hotel, which is a five-minute walk from Al-Masjid an-Nabawi, the Mosque of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).
The first batch of pilgrims, who arrived over the weekend, have successfully performed Ziyarah — visits to historical sites in Madinah — and will travel to Makkah by bus on Tuesday morning for Umrah and, subsequently, Hajj, while the 148 pilgrims are expected to perform Ziyarah on Tuesday.
A total of 2,626 Sierra Leonean pilgrims are expected to perform this year’s Hajj. Of that number, 826 are home-based pilgrims travelling from Sierra Leone, while 1,800 are Sierra Leoneans in the diaspora. Pilgrims from the USA, UK, Canada, Europe and Australia will be flying to Madinah in different batches under the Sierra Leone contingent.
A member of the Sierra Leone-America Hajj Agency based in Maryland, who is also coordinating Hajj affairs in the USA and North America, Mohamed L. Bah, told this writer that a total of 199 Sierra Leonean pilgrims in the USA and North America are performing this year’s Hajj under the Sierra Leone contingent. He said the 199 pilgrims will be flying to Madinah from the USA, North America and Canada on different flights on 14th and 15th May 2026.
The Sierra Leone Presidential Taskforce on Hajj has deployed a second team of five personnel, including a medical doctor, to assist the pilgrims with adequate hospitality.
The 826 pilgrims from Sierra Leone will fly to Madinah in three batches via Ethiopian Airlines: the first batch departs Freetown International Airport in Lungi on 15th May 2026, the second on 16th May, and the third and final batch on 18th May 2026.
